Kittens Don't like Rain
by YourAverageObsessiveGirl
Summary: By some twist of fate Akiko ended up as Kakashi's teaching assitant. It's not the worst thing ever, but seeing as how Kakashi is also helping with a string of murders in Konoha, things could get intersting. KakashiXOC.
1. And the story begins

**Hey! Me here! Haha, yes, anyways. Here we go, a Naruto fanfic. It was only a matter of time before this happened, I knew I'd write one one day. SO yeah.**

**KakashiXOC. Rated T for the odd spurt of language. And just to be safe. Yeah, safe is good. Good, indeed. Wait, did I just agree with myself? Oh crap, I did. Sigh Just read and ignore me. Go on! Shoo! Read!**

* * *

I scoffed, resisting the urge to laugh at Naruto as he fell out of the tree for what looked like the tenth time. 

"You've got to focus your chakra to your feet" I reminded him, my voice shaking.

I couldn't contain the laughter much longer.

Now, I'm sure many of you are wondering why I'm teaching Naruto to run up a tree. Don't worry, it's not like he's aspiring to be a squirrel or anything.

You see, Kakashi's sick, and I, being a substitute, am stuck watching Kakashi's team.

Although, he's been out sick for the past week.

Maybe he got some rare jungle virus. Yes, that's definitely it! That would make so much sense to why he hasn't been here.

Now if only he had _actually_ been near a jungle.

It wasn't like I minding subbing in for him, no, in fact, I liked it.

His team listened, for the most part, and, they didn't try and attack me with a swarm of bugs.

It was the fact that Kakashi was never sick.

Literally, never.

"Um, Sensei?" I heard voice say. Who was that?

I turned around slowly, "Yes?"

Oh, it was the emo kid.

Sasuke had made it up the tree and was hanging smugly, upside down, from a tree.

I clapped.

"Yay for Sasuke!" I cheered, sounding crazier then I normally do.

"Why can't you do that, Naruto?" I heard Sakura ask.

"Who says I can't?" Naruto fumed.

I turned myself back around to watch this.

I have no idea where he went wrong, but instead of climbing the tree, he ran face first into it.

I couldn't hold it in.

I laughed, I laughed until I was lying on the ground.

"Akiko-sensei, are you ok?" Sakura asked slowly.

I waved my hand dismissively. "I'm as fine as a kitten in the rain." I replied calmly.

"Kittens don't like rain" Naruto said.

"This particular kitten does" I snapped, getting a raised eyebrow look from Sasuke, and upside-down one at that.

What's that emo looking at? C'mon, I'm not that weird!

Well, before I have you guys thinking I'm not a mental case, maybe I should explain a little about myself.

First, my name's Akiko, which means sparkle, or bright. I'm not sure why they named me that, I'm not that bright, nor do I sparkle, maybe my mother had something of fetish for shiny things, like me. Aside from Akiko being a fun thing to say, I'm normally called Ko, because Akiko's a fun thing to say (Trust me, once people start, it gets annoying).

I'm twenty years old.

My hair is what you would call an odd color, it's what I would call just dang awesome. I had my hair dyed….orange. It's a dark orange though, being blinded by it isn't possible.

My eyes are a grey color, which looks really funny with orange hair.

I moved here last year, taking up a substitute sensei job. It's not a bad job. Most kids are good, and I like their sensei's.

They like me too on a bonus note.

Well, I hope they do.

If they didn't, maybe I should stop going out to lunch with them. Yeah….right, like I'm going to stop going to lunch, it's free food. I'm not one to pass up on free food.

My family was killed a long time ago so I live with my uncle, but I'm looking for my own place.

I like shiny things, I've recently developed a fuzzy sock fetish, which my uncle claims is 'great!' I think he likes them to. Or he's planning on making a bomb out of them, I can see it happening. Yeah, enough for now, that's all you really need to know.

I lifted my hand in the air slowly.

"Help me up" I said, flailing my hand around aimlessly around until Sakura grabbed it and pulled me up.

"Thank you."

Sakura nodded, and then scurried over to gawk at Sasuke, who was still in the tree.

How long can that kid stay up there? I considered pulling out a stopwatch and timing him, but thought better of it after seeing Naruto's face.

I clapped, "Alright, Sasuke, out of the tree."

"What are we doing now?" Naruto asked.

I smiled like a crazed kid on sugar rush who had found where the icing sugar was. Naruto backed away slowly, I think Sakura did to.

"Push ups!" I screamed.

"How many?" Sasuke asked.

I swear, with that one question he was taunting Naruto, impressing the fangirls that we all knew were hiding nearby, and questioning my teaching skills.

"As many as you can do, as for everyone else, ten" I replied evenly.

Sakura and Naruto groaned and began with the horrible task most commonly known as push ups.

I sat down again, settling myself down into the dirt, I began to count their push ups.

By the time Naruto collapsed, at 4, Sakura was on 5, and Sasuke was on 7.

"Naruto, c'mon" I said, unable to think of a random stupid snappy comeback.

"I'd like to see you do better" Naruto taunted. I smiled wickedly.

I got into my pushup stance.

Shut up, I do have a stance.

I managed to get 7 in before I to was lying on the ground.

I sat up, smirking at Naruto, because I'm a weirdo and compete with my students.

Oh great, I'm calling them my students. I may have some withdrawal issues once Kakashi is back.

I glanced around and, lo and behold, Sasuke was still going.

He was like a push-up madman.

Which I told him, only to be given another raised eyebrow look.

Sakura had finished her push-ups, and was sitting there, looking at me, waiting for what we were doing next.

I smiled. "Sasuke, you can stop." He stopped and looked at me. "What now?" he asked.

"We go home" I said dismissively. "I've had enough of you."

They all nodded, and stood up.

"See ya tomorrow!" I said, without thinking.

"Won't Kakashi-sensei be back?" Sakura asked. I scoffed, yeah right.

I had a sinking suspicion that he wasn't going to come in at all this week.

"If he's still out tomorrow, I'll go check on him." I promised.

"Alright then" Sakura said. I nodded, and ran away.

* * *

Yeah, I was right. Kakashi didn't come. 

I was a little ticked at him, mainly for leaving me with them on a day when Naruto was especially hyper, and Sasuke was especially cranky.

So, to spite him, I took them out for ramen, and then I took them to a movie, I forget which one.

"Thanks Sensei!" Naruto said cheerfully, stepping out into the bright streets of what we call Konoha.

"No problem" I said, "I'm not sure if I could take training with you guys much longer." Sakura smiled slightly.

Did she think I was joking?

I wasn't joking. I was dead serious.

"Alright, we can call it quits for today, I'm going to go see if Kakashi's alright." I said. "Good" Sasuke said.

"I'm getting tired of your teaching methods."

I frowned. "What?" I asked, keeping my voice calm.

He repeated it, more to my face then before.

I twitched. "Oh, yeah!?" I shouted, ignoring some weird looks, "Would you rather I get that crazy old lady that's always petting your head?!"

It's true; there is a sub like that. She petted my head once. I've hated her ever since. Yeah, so, once I'd calmed down enough, I left.

I walked down the road, suddenly wishing I actually knew where Kakashi lived.

I wandered around, looking for a Kakashi-ish looking house, but I found none. Eventually I found myself window-shopping on Main Street instead of actually looking for his house.

I was walking in front of the grocery when I noticed Iruka.

"Iruka!" I called.

He looked up.

"Oh, hi Akiko."

"I promised Kakashi's students I'd check up on him, any idea where his house is?" I asked.

He blinked. "Yeah, he lives on Wall street. Number 766, I believe.

"Thanks" I said, running off.

Good ole' Iruka.

Always knows where people live.

Wait, how is that a good thing?

That's a bad thing.

For all I know, he could be stalking people.

That's definitely what he's doing.

There's no other option, besides the fact that he is on good terms with like everyone, and visits them a lot.

But I like my theory better.

But now I'm locking my door tonight. And the windows too.

Once getting thoughts of a stalker Iruka out of my mind, I set out to find Kakashi's place.

Not an easy task, mind you. There are like seven wall streets, and they all look alike.

Wait, maybe I went past the same place.

Six times, I wouldn't put it past me.

But apparently, seventh's times a charm.

This time I actually noticed a house with a 766 on it.

It was a nice two-story house, it had nice porch, a front yard that had potential, granted he actually looked after the garden, there was one of those weird porch roofs, and from there two windows that probably lead to like his bedroom and one other random room. Like a sewing room, I could see Kakashi having a sewing room.

I stood in front of his house, staring blankly as I tried to decide how to enter his house.

I could go through the window, just for the sake of going through the window, or I could go through the door, and look relatively sane.

As nice as keeping some sanity points, the window seemed like so much more fun.

So, that's what I did. I climbed the freaky rail thing that kept the porch roof from falling.

Once I made it up, I made sure no one was watching, which I probably should've done before climbing up a post.

Luckily for me, no one was watching.

If they were, someone would've called the police, and that would really cause some problems.

I crawled up to the window and looked in, Kakashi wasn't in the bedroom.

I sighed with relief.

Yes, stealth point to me. I opened the window slowly, hoping it wouldn't creak, and it didn't.

Yay, the window didn't creak! I thought, doing a mental happy dance.

I would've done a real happy dance, but being on a roof and all, that would be a very stupid thing to do.

I jumped into the room and onto the bed, without making much noise.

I looked around. There was a desk, a bed, a chair, and a bookshelf.

Wait! Wait a minute!

This room is too clean to be Kakashi's room. There was nothing on the floor, or any perverted looking books on the shelf.

Definitely not Kakashi's room.

A guest room?

Or does he have a girlfriend?

Gasp! That's it! He has a secret girlfriend! It all makes sense!

Wait- what all makes sense?

I have no evidence.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to ask him later.

Oh, yes, brilliant plan, walk up and ask if they have a secret romance.

Not like it matter's.

Kakashi probably already thinks I'm a mental case.

Hey! It's not my fault he walked in on me when I was dancing!

Well, ok, maybe it was, I didn't have to dance when I got the job. And he didn't have to walk in right away.

He could've given me two minutes to calm down before he walked in to start the grand tour.

Which he didn't even finish, might I add, he wandered off to go read his stupid book, leaving me to find my way myself.

I walked out of the room carefully, I couldn't have myself falling. I looked around the hallway; it was a mess, Aha! I thought suddenly. A staircase.

I began the horrendous trek down the stairs, my frown growing larger every time the staircase creaked.

Stupid stairs, creaking when it's so obvious I'm trying to be ninja.

Once I'd made it to the bottom, and cursed at the staircase quietly, I peered around the corner.

There was Kakashi, lying sound asleep on the couch, his creepy mask still on. I don't get it, how does he breath with that thing on? Then I noticed something, he was wearing

plaid pajama pants, but no shirt. I could feel my face turn slightly red, but I pushed the feeling back, there was also a book lying open on his chest, Make-out tactics.

"Kakashi?" I called softly.

He muttered something in his sleep about who-knows-what.

After several random and probably unheard of attempts at waking him, I finally just grabbed the book of his chest and smacked him on the head with it.

"Oi! Kakashi!" I said loudly as he rolled off the couch in surprise.

"Akiko? What are you doing here?" He asked, sitting up and holding his head where I'd hit him moments before. "Your students were worried, I said I'd check up on you" I explained brightly.

He gave me a look that said: 'Why you? Of all people?'

Yeah, he definitely thinks I'm crazy.

"It was me or Naruto" I told him.

He nodded, looking thankful after that.

"And you said you were sick" I scoffed, leaning forward and examining his face. It didn't look like he'd been sick. He blinked.

"How'd you get in here?" He asked.

Oh, yeah. Subtle change of subject, smooth.

"The window was open" I said, slowly standing up straight.

"The door wasn't locked you know" He said. I shrugged. "So, where's the fun in that?" He chuckled.

I extended my hand to help him up, he took it gratefully.

"So, are you really sick?" I asked.

"Cause I'm kicking your ass either way."

"Why?" He asked slowly.

"You left me stuck with Naruto and Sasuke, for a week" I stated, crossing my arms. "Where they that bad?" He asked.

I nodded.

"Well, then I guess I'll have to be the hero and come to work tomorrow" He joked.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, you hungry?" I asked suddenly.

His brow creased thoughtfully.

"Yes" he nodded. I smiled.

"Good, Kurenai invited me out to eat at six; she said I could bring a friend."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm your friend?"

I shook my head, "Not really, but I can't just let someone die of hunger."

"Hey! I can cook!" He protested.

"Cook what?" I asked, allowing a bit of surprise in my voice.

"I can make ramen" He replied.

I raised an eyebrow. He sighed, "I see your point." I smiled.

"Alright, now get dressed" I said.

He nodded slowly and walked into a room just to the left of the couch.

"You know" He said, he voice muffled by the door, "We barely know each other, it's going to look weird, you taking me to eat with you."

I nodded, then realized that he couldn't see that through the door, quickly agreed.

"Yeah, but I'll just tell them I couldn't leave a starving man to die."

"You know they're not going to believe that, right?" He asked, opening the door to his room, finished pulling his vest on, and walked out.

"Well, too bad" I said, looking up at him. Arg, he was tall. "It's almost six" Kakashi said blandly. "Alrighty then!" I cheered, "Head out!"

I bolted out the door, Kakashi following calmly behind.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Kakashi asked me. 

"How should I know?" I responded quickly,

"She didn't tell me-crap"

I added, after realizing what I'd just said.

He sighed, "Great, I get woken up from my nap, only to be stuck wandering Konoha with a mental-case."

"That mental-case is right here" I snapped.

I think he smiled. Stupid mask.

"Well, on a brighter note, we got to know each other better" I said, referring to the fact that we had actually managed a conversation.

"Did you plan this just to get to know me better?" Kakashi asked me suspiciously.

"Would I lie about free food?" I replied.

He sighed, "No?" "That's right, now let's find somewhere to eat" I said.

"There's the ramen place right there" Kakashi said.

I shook my head, my gray eyes wide.

"No way. You know Naruto's in there." He laughed.

"You said you're hungry, and it's not like we're actually doing anything" he said.

"But its Naruto" I said. He laughed again.

"Just go in." He sighed.

"If he gets any idea's" I began.

"He won't." Kakashi said. I rolled my eyes for no reason and walked in.

Sure enough, there was Naruto.

"Akiko-sensei! Hi" Naruto said cheerfully from a counter stool. I smiled slowly.

"Hey, Naruto."

"Why is Kakashi-sensei with you?" He asked.

"Well, I couldn't leave a starving man to die" I explained.

Naruto's eyes went wide. He peered over my shoulder at Kakashi, who had one hand covering his face as he shook his head.

"C'mon, sit down" Naruto urged. I tried not to laugh as Naruto stood up and rushed Kakashi to a stool. I sat down next to him.

"Won't believe me, eh?" I teased, elbowing him in the ribs.

"What would this fine couple like?" A man asked from behind the counter.

I looked up, blinking.

Did he just say couple? A couple? Why would he call us a couple?

"We're not a couple" Kakashi said.

"And I'll have the special." The waiter person glanced at me.

"I'll have the same." I said. Eventually the ramen came.

"You feel ok, sensei?" Naruto asked after Kakashi had managed to swallow some, without anyone noticing he had taken his mask slightly off. Sadly for Naruto, it was back on by the time he noticed.

Kakashi nodded. I poked the ramen with my chopstick before taking a bite. It took us half-an-hour to finish.

"Who's paying?" I asked. Kakashi shrugged. "I don't have my wallet."

I sighed, pulling my wallet out of my pocket. "Fine. But you owe me a meal here."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. After I had managed to find the amount of money in my wallet, which took a while, as I had little change and I had resorted to counting quarters.

"You could always carry actual money with you" Kakashi pointed out as we left.

I had just given up in the end and used a coupon I borrowed from Naruto.

That's a new low for me, borrowing coupons from Naruto.

I shrugged, "I would, if I had any."

"You do have a job" He reminded me.

"Yeah, but the pay is crap" I muttered.

"Is it really that bad?" he asked. I looked up at him.

"Are you kidding? It makes the assistant teaching job's pay look great!"

Kakashi looked at me sympathetically. We all know how little the teaching assistants get paid. It's pretty sad actually.

"You want to be an assistant?" he asked. I nodded. "Are you sure?" He asked, a tone of shock creeping into his voice. I nodded again.

I was fully aware of the crap that they got put through by the sensei's. I didn't really care, better pay meant more work. It makes sense, doesn't it?

He shook his head. "Maybe you really are crazy."

I was about to say some really awesome comeback, when something caught my eye;

Police tape and flashing lights.

So I found myself saying: "Yeah, maybe. Hey, what do you think is going on over there?"

Kakashi shrugged, "I don't know, but I have to say I'm a little curious myself."

"Then let's go see!" I exclaimed.

I broke into a light jog/ skip thing, Kakashi just walked calmly behind me.

It looked like a crime scene, and the closer I got to it, the more ominous it looked.

There were people gathered outside of the police do-not cross tape, some were crying.

Very ominous. As I got closer, I also saw I truck, on the back in big, white, letters it read: Coroner.

Did someone die?

"What happened here?" I asked a police officer standing outside of the tape. "There was a murder" He offered, not looking up from the mug of coffee he was holding.

Cops and their stereotypes.

"A murder" I inquired, wanting to know more.

"We're not able to give anymore information to the public" he said robotically.

"Really?" Kakashi said, "That's a shame."

The police dude looked up. "Hey, Kakashi" he said, suddenly noticing me and him.

Then he shook his head. "I'm sorry; I really don't know what happened."

"Could it be him?" Kakashi asked.

By 'him' he was probably referring to that killer that was on the loose.

Normally I would've found this thought frightening, but at the moment, I was more curious about it than normal.

The man shook his head, "It's likely, but is this really the way you want to be spending your date?"

Date? Again with date thing! Why must everyone think we're on a date?

I think Kakashi noticed how my fingers were twitching madly, because he spoke up before I could strangle someone.

"We're not on a date" He said. The cop raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, then why is this fine young lady with you?" My fingers started twitching more violently, could he not see how much I felt like strangling him.

"She got invited to supper, decided to drag me along, and then got lost" Kakashi explained.

"I know exactly where we are, thank you very much" I said. Kakashi laughed, and then stopped when he realized some of the crying people were glaring at him for laughing.

"Alright, well I'm going home" Kakashi said. I nodded.

"Good idea, cause if I'm watching your class again tomorrow I will track you down" I threatened.

"And do what?" he inquired.

My eyes narrowed.

"I'll tell Naruto where you live."

He rolled his eyes.

Well, the eye that I could see. Maybe he only rolls one eye. That would be so awesome.

And really scary. Kakashi turned and left, heading off in the direction of his house.

I frowned, remembering where I lived.

Crap, I was stuck following Kakashi. Well, I thought, I might as well have company.

"Kakashi! Wait up!"

* * *

"Where were you?!" A voice hollered as I stepped through the door to the house. 

"Hmm?" I said as I kicked off my shoes, literally, into the closet. "Oh, hi uncle."

It was then he began his little tirade about coming home late.

Honestly, he acts like an over-protective father, and it gets annoying.

I'm old enough to care for myself.

"Where were you?" he asked again.

I blinked. "I was with Kakashi Hatake for a bit" I said.

"You and Hatake, huh?" my uncle mused. I frowned.

"It's not like that!" I protested.

"Really?"

"Yes, uncle."

My uncle smiled knowingly, "Right." My eye twitched slightly.

I hated that smile, it was like Gai's smile sometimes, and so, if you can imagine coming home and seeing that smile, you'd understand at least half of my issues.

"There was another murder" I said, changing the topic quickly. My uncle's smile morphed into a frown.

"Really? Who was it?"

"I dunno, they couldn't tell us anything" I said, shrugging. The smile came back onto my uncle's face.

What did I say?

"Us?" he asked slowly.

"Kakashi was with me, ok?" I said, frustrated.

He smiled his stupid smile again. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going to bed" I said, quickly hurrying to my room.

I pulled on my awesome pink panda pajama pants. Try saying that one five times.

After laughing about my awesome tongue twister I had just come up with, I lay down on my bed.

I didn't fall asleep right away; I couldn't get rid of the feeling something weird was going to happen tomorrow.

* * *

**Aha's! I'm done the first chapter. And have no fear! I have a plot planned(Woah, does that sound funny to anyone else?) So yeah. **

**Bye!**


	2. The Shika Mission

**Hi! Yay! New update! and be thankful! I stayed up till three in the morning writing this for whoever bothers to read it. Now read, or else I'll send the army of fangirls I've hidden in my attic at you.**

* * *

I was right, something weird did happen. It all started when I walked into what's-his-face's office. 

Yeah, that's right, what's-his-face, my boss, the guy who tells me which class I look after.

Well, anyway. I walked in only to be surprised at finding Kakashi standing there.

I shouldn't have been that surprised. I mean, Kakashi stands a lot, reading his book.

Kakashi looked up. "Ah, Akiko. I have a proposition for you" He said.

"Should I be scared?" I asked, half-tempted to run away screaming. And where was my boss?

Kakashi shook his head, seating himself at my boss's desk.

He took a very businessman looking position, with his hands folded together and his chin resting on them. I couldn't resist laughing at him, and I pulled out my camera from my purse (I carried it everywhere) and quickly snapped a picture before he could move.

He raised an eyebrow skeptically as I laughed harder after looking at the picture.

Wiping the tears of laughter form my eyes I sat down in front of him.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Is that anyway to treat your new employer" he asked.

Employer? What was he talking about?

"Explain" I said, "Before I make up my own complicated theory."

I had already made up several, none of which I'm mentioning.

He sighed, presumably ashamed that I hadn't figured it out myself.

"You remember when you said you wanted to be a teaching assistant"

I nodded.

"Well" He continued, "Would you like to be my assistant?"

I frowned thoughtfully, and then abruptly slammed my head on the desk repeatedly.

"I'll take that as a yes?" He pressed.

I sat up straighter, rubbing my now sore head, and nodded.

"Dare I ask why you're asking me?" I asked, unsure if I wanted the answer or not.

"I'm helping out with the murder cases lately, and with all the paperwork missions are these day." I cracked up laughing again. He was aware how old he made himself sound just there, wasn't he?

He sighed, shaking his head. I bet he was regretting asking the laughing crazy person in front of him to be his assistant.

I would be too.

"You start tomorrow" He said, abruptly standing up and starting to leave.

"Oh- and you're watching Asuma's bunch today."

Asuma's bunch, great, that meant Shikamaru, and Choji, and Ino.

Oh, jolly good fun. I followed him out the door and wandered my way to the training field where I knew they'd be waiting.

"Alright guys! I'm watching over you guys today!" I said, clapping my hands briskly.

Ino glanced up and smiled slightly, Choji on the other hand just nodded in acknowledgement before going back to his bag of chips.

Oh come on, fatty over there could be a bit more friendly.

Oops, heh-heh, sorry Choji, good thing I didn't say that out loud.

"So" I said slowly, bringing up my wrist so I could check my lime green watch. "It's nine a.m. so Shikamaru's not gonna be here for another hour or so" I stated.

Then I had a plan.

A brilliant plan at that.

"Alright!" I shouted, making overly dramatic hand-gestures. "I have a mission for you two!"

Ino leaned in slightly, obviously curious about what I had planned.

"Wake up Shikamaru," I began, still using dramatic hand-gestures and almost smacking Ino in the face.

That woulda been awesome if I had.

"And get him here, completely ready, by ten o' clock"

Ino scoffed. "Impossible."

"Nothing's impossible" I exclaimed "so long as you believe."

Ino straightened up. "Alright then. I believe it's impossible to do this."

I smirked. "Too bad, you're doing it."

Choji looked at me with wide eyes. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I'm serious all right. Dead serious." I folded my arms, making my point stronger.

"Go!"

Ino grabbed Choji's wrist and ran of down the street. I chuckled to myself quietly.

I didn't think they'd actually do it. I pulled out my stealthy side and quickly began to follow them.

As they marched boldly down the road, I was hiding behind various trash cans or bushes. Whatever was closer to my reach.

After a while I realized they probably weren't about to notice me seeing as how they were arguing loudly about how to go about doing this mission.

I watched them carefully, waiting for any sign that they were about to turn around see me.

_MEOW! _

I looked down quickly, swearing loudly in surprise.

I had accidentally kicked a black cat.

Well, on a brighter note, I was superstitious, so I wasn't about to go all bad luck freak-out or anything.

"What was that?" Ino's voice rang out amongst the cat's hissing and my swearing.

My eyes widened quickly. Crap, my covers gonna be blown.

I pretty much catapulted myself at the nearest bush, slamming into it with a loud _THUD!_

"What was what?" Choji asked, obviously missing the whole diving into the bush thing.

"I thought I saw" Ino cut herself off.

"Nevermind, let's go."

I waited patiently until I was confident that they were out of earshot.

Can never be too careful when it comes to stalking people.

Did I just say that?

Yeah, yeah I did.

Well, this can't be good. I

climbed out of the bush awkwardly, stretching out my sore limbs. I was about to begin trailing them again when I heard a loud, annoying, voice shouting something.

Naruto.

I wheeled around, grinning sheepishly.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had stopped in their tracks and were staring dead-on, at me!

Each of their looks said something different.

Naruto's said: 'Woah, what're you doing? It looks like fun?'

Saskuke's said: 'To believe I know that dumbass.'

Sakura's said: 'Haven't you heard of something called makeup?'

Sakura's glance made me vaguely aware that my hair was most likely a mess, and I was probably a tad scratched up.

Kakashi, who was trailing a bit behind, reading his book, walked into Sasuke, causing him to fall into Sakura, causing her to fall into Naruto.

I giggled. They were like dominoes.

Kakashi looked up from his book, and turned to follow the rest of team's glances.

When his eyes rested on me, I knew he was having second thoughts to making me his assistant.

Which I didn't even say yes too!

Bastard.

I nodded dismissively, turned on my heel, and began trailing them again (Yes, still hiding behind bushes and such).

They made it to Shikamaru's house without anymore distraction from me.

I awarded myself more stealth points as I watched them storm into Shikamaru's room from the window.

I smiled as Ino began shouting at him, and Shikamaru's only response was rolling over. Choji sat in the corner, eating a bag of chips.

That's Choji for you. After a while of shouting Ino frowned and left the room momentarily.

She walked back in carrying a bucket of water. Where she got the bucket, I don't know. I grimaced as she promptly threw the contents of the bucket over Shikamaru's head, resulting in one, wet, cranky, Shikamaru.

He sat up groggily, obviously complaining about something.

Ino clenched one hand in a ball and snapped back at him.

I was trying hard not to double over laughter and fall out of the tree branched I had been perched on.

Then I snapped back to my senses, I'd best get away now, so it didn't look as though I had been following them.

I hopped out of the tree gracefully (Weird, for me) and swiftly ran off towards the training grounds.

I made it back quickly, thanks to the fact I didn't have to hide behind random objects.

And the fact that I didn't kick the cat. I sat myself on a log, and sat there semi-patiently, waiting for the teams return.

I had sorta spaced out was thinking of the murder cases.

Wasn't Kakashi helping out on that?

Not like I was really listening to him. Is this really important?

I was preparing myself for a full-out mental argument.

"Sensei!" Ino cried out, snapping me out of mental-argument mode. I looked up. She was smiling brightly, Choji only slightly behind her, looking equally as happy.

I craned my neck to see who I was looking for.

Ah! There he was.

Shikamaru was lagging behind, hands in pockets, with a particularly foul look on his face.

His hair was still slightly damp.

I pulled out my camera snapping two quick pictures.

One of Ino and Choji high-fiving, while Shikamaru stood in the background, looking cranky; and another of just Shikamaru, giving the camera a death glare.

"We did it" Ino cried out. I smiled.

"And you said it was impossible. Well," I said, checking my watch, it was 5 before 10, "Guess that's mission accomplished."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "This was your idea?"

I nodded, smiling cheerfully.

"So troublesome" He muttered.

"Akiko-sensei" Choji said. I glanced at him. He was looking at me curiously.

"Why are there leaves and branches in your hair?"

I frowned as my mind raced into a panic.

"I-I fell" I stammered.

"You fell?" Shikamaru asked, not sounding to surprised. I wouldn't be either, this is me, Miss let's-climb-through-a-window-because-we-can.

Wait, we?

"Yes, I fell….into a bush" I exclaimed dramatically. "That bush!"

I pointed at a random bush just a few feet away from me.

They all stared at me slightly as I gave the bush the death-glare. This is why I try to avoid situations like this; they always make me seem crazier than I actually am.

"If looks could kill" A voice said from behind.

I wheeled around, finding myself face-to-face (Well, not quite, he was taller then me) with Kakashi.

He pulled a twig out from my hair.

"Well, don't you look idiotic today."

"Don't you look…look" I paused, hoping for a good comeback to pop into my head.

Sadly none did.

"You look…moronic today" I finished lamely.

"You shouldn't just take other people's words and make them sound smarter" Kakashi stated, walking past me and facing Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji.

I folded my arms and pouted slightly.

"We were wondering if you'd like to have a practice battle" Kakashi said.

I looked them over, only Shikamaru seemingly had a problem with it. That kid has a problem with everything.

"Alright" I said, "We accept."

I heard Shikamaru muttering something like: "Such a drag."

"None of your backsass!" I shouted.

_Rustle…rustle_.

I shifted my eyes warily from side to side.

What was that noise? Kakashi seemingly heard it to, but shrugged it off.

There was a sort of mangled hiss/meowing noise coming from the bush that I'd 'fallen into'.

I stepped away slowly. I knew who was in the bush.

A few moments of tense silence passed(For me at least, no one else really cared).

Suddenly a black, furry mass lunged out of the bush and was heading for my face. I swerved out of the way quickly, but that didn't stop the cat's claws. One of its legs stretched out and scratched my face.

It landed gracefully on the log I had previously been sitting on.

It hissed at me furiously.

I was to busy to see what everyone else's expressions looked like, but I had a feeling it was something like: 'What the hell?'

I placed my hand on top of the now stinging side of cheek.

Something warmed trickled down my hand. I pulled my hand away and examined it.

Blood. The damn cat had made me bleed.

This meant war.

"Oh, it's on now _cat_" I spat the word out like it was some sort of extremely foul word. I lunged at the log in a mad attempt at grabbing the cat. The cat was too quick; it leapt out of the way with an angry hiss, leaving me to go flying into a log.

I grunted and wheeled around. The stupid cat was in hunting stance.

I was fully preparing myself for another attack when a chubby old lady ran out of the bush.

"Snicklefritz! There you are!" She exclaimed, picking him up in her arms.

I raised an eyebrow.

Snicklefritz?

She named her cat Snicklefritz?!

I cracked up laughing and fell to the ground.

The lady glared at me before storming off back to where she came from. I finally stood up, gasping for breathe and wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.

I glanced around quickly, finally noticing everyone's stares.

"Aheh-heh-heh" I chuckled nervously.

Sakura walked up to me, pulling out a pack of band-aids and sticking one on my cut.

"You carry band-aids with you?" I asked, sounding surprised. She nodded.

"With Naruto on my team" she began.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted.

I laughed, "Thanks, Sakura."

"Now that Akiko's gotten rid of her cat problem"

–I grinned sheepishly –

"Are we all for fighting?" Kakashi said, looking at me and shaking his head.

"Sure" I said, "Why not."

"We are so gonna win. Believe it!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist.

"Pff, like you could ever beat someone as awesome as me" Ino scoffed.

"Oh, yeah?" Sakura taunted, "Sasuke could beat you."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

Sasuke nodded confidently.

I felt sorry for him; he was stuck in a fight with two of his fangirls.

"Bring. It. On" I challenged, putting extra emphasis on each word.

Kakashi shook his head, presumably ashamed of my immaturity.

"Ready. Set. Go!"

* * *

**Yeah, don't ask about the reasoning of the cat, I was bored and thought it needed more randomness. I know it's shorter than the last, but the last was twelve pages, that was a little extensive for me.**

**Please R&R, I need encouragement to actually finish these things.**

**Adios, YourAverageObsessiveGirl**


	3. Naoki

**Hi! Uhh, yeah, read, just read.**

* * *

Oh the blood! The guts! The corpses!

Just kidding.

It's just your average ninja practice fight.

I stood beside Kakashi; we were both observing the students closely, looking for any flaw that we could attempt to correct.

Shikamaru immediately went to the back of the team and began waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike(Or he was just being really lazy, both work), Ino and Choji went straight into attack, and same goes for Naruto and Sakura.

Sasuke was waiting for a worthy opponent, I think.

I blinked as the four of them actually fighting somehow merged into one large fight.

Using some sort of jutsu Choji managed to inflate himself into a large bowling ball. Ino smirked, and kicked Choji into Naruto.

I cringed, that one would probably leave a mark.

Sasuke stepped in. I understood then why he was standing out for a while.

He was waiting for Naruto or Sakura to get injured, then he could step in and look like a hero.

He sidestepped the rolling bowling ball we call Choji and approached Ino.

He moved swiftly, reaching out, grabbing her, and flipping her over on her back.

Unfortunately for him, when I say grabbed, I meant it literally. He accidentally grabbed her butt.

Kakashi sighed and covered his eye for a second.

"Pervert!" Ino screamed, getting up and taking a swing at him. She hit him, dead on, on the cheek.

She gasped as he realized what she'd done. "Sorry Sasuke" She apologized, words flowing out of her mouth too quickly for me to follow.

I laughed. "Imagine how he's gonna explain that one."

Kakashi didn't even look at me. "Excuse me?" I snapped playfully.

Still no response.

"Hello? I'm talking to you here" I said, standing on my tiptoes and poking his cheek.

"Look" Kakashi said, nodding towards the fighting group.

They all lay on the ground, panting slightly, except for Shikamaru, who was sitting on the log.

"Shikamaru!" I screamed "Did you do anything?!" He shook his head.

I frowned, and then shrugged. "Okay then."

"Alright" Kakashi said briskly. "I can see we have some work to do. And Sasuke, you could learn to exert some self-control."

"It was an accident" Sasuke protested.

"Hmm…maybe Jiraiya could teach you" Kakashi muttered.

Sasuke's eyes went wide. "An accident" Sasuke insisted.

To keep myself from having about the forth laugh attack of the day, I turned to face Shikamaru.

"We've got training to do" I said. "Get up" I said to Ino and Choji.

Choji had de-inflated himself.

"How troublesome" Shikamaru remarked as I ushered them away from Kakashi and his team.

"Hey! I decide what troublesome is!" I said loudly. "And you my friend are the most troublesome person I know."

"I try" He said calmly. Choji chuckled.

I sighed as I settled into my bed.

Today had been tiring, full of ticked of Ino's and lazy Shikamaru's.

I was content with sleeping, even though I knew that if I fell asleep the job with Kakashi would come faster.

I closed my eyes and tried to venture to my happy place.

_Rap rap.._ I threw my pillow at the window.

"Go away" I mumbled, rolling onto my stomach.

_"Open the gosh darn window" _I heard a voice say.

I groaned.

It was Naoki, My psychotic best friend from school. Her clan had some kekkai-genkai that was like telepathy.

She mainly used it to have long-distance conversations with me.

She could read minds, and transmit thoughts into yours.

She also had the power of suggestion, but she promised never to use it on me.

Woah, that sounded really cheesy. But I like cheese, so it's okay.

_"Go away!" _I thought back angrily.

_"If you would open the window" _Naoki began.

_"No, you'd just come in" _I thought simply.

_"Damn" _she thought, _"You saw through my plan"_.

_"Not that hard." _

_"Shut up and open the window, its cold outside" _Naoki's voice snapped.

Grumbling mean words under my breath I got up and opened the window. Naoki came toppling in.

"Hey" she said, her voice muffled by the floor.

I shut the window and rolled my eyes. "What'd you want?" I asked.

"Is that any way to treat your best friend?" She asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor. I chuckled.

"You says you are my best friend?" I inquired teasingly.

"Well, considering you let me in instead of throwing me out. So unless you have some really messed up spilt personatl-" She stopped, a look of horror growing on her face.

"Ohmigawd, please tell me that you don't have a split personality disorder."

I grinned. I'm not the only person in Konoha who comes up with odd theories.

"No guarantees" I teased.

Naoki chuckled."So I hear you have a job with Kakashi."

I sighed, "Don't remind me."

"Is he really that bad?" She asked.

"Nope, but I'm stuck with Mr. Ramen-fetish."

Naoki's grinning face became serious. "Wasn't Kakashi one of the people who helped on that murder case a few years back?"

I nodded solemnly.

I suppose you may want a bit of a background story.

About three years ago there was a murderer loose in Konoha. I only knew because of newspapers and such. It wasn't a problem who for someone who lived in the Mist Village, but, Naoki moved away, and as a birthday gift my parents had taken the entire family to Konoha so we could visit. I went out one day and when I came back they were all dead, my toddler of a brother, my mom, and my dad. I won't go into details; I've blocked most of them out of my mind.

I've built up a sort of wall against most of the memories of before I moved to Konoha, they hurt too much.

But, as it happens with every wall, it slowly starts to crack, until there's none left at all.

Mine was probably just breaking faster than your average wall. Naoki knew about it and was careful to avoid anything that would hurt it.

"If he hurts your feelings" Naoki stated simply, "Kick him."

I chuckled. "Thanks for the tip."

She threw her hands up in the air.

Why?

I don't know, but she did.

"Hey! It comes in handy!" She said defensively.

I smirked evilly. "Yeah, and this gives me a reason to kick him."

"Violence is bad" Naoki scolded teasingly.

"Look who's talking, Ms. I attack my best friend at random times" I retorted.

She laughed evilly before getting up and standing by the window. "Be prepared" she warned, jumping out.

I folded my arms patiently, waiting for the muffled 'oww' to be heard.

"Owww" Naoki's voice moaned from out the window. Aha, there it was.

I walked up to the window. "You okay?" I called, trying not to laugh at my friend lying on the ground.

Every time she came over, she made it onto the branch outside that lead to my window, but she always fell off.

Sometimes she landed nicely, but sometimes she fell right onto the ground.

Today was one of those times.

It was dark and I could only see a faint outline of her body, but I was fairly certain she was waving her hands around dismissively.

"I'm fine and dandy" She replied.

She stood up and ran out of the yard. "Have fun at work tomorrow" she hollered.

I rolled my eyes before wandering back to the bed and falling on it with a plop.

Like that was possible.

* * *

**Yayz, I hope you liked it. And to my friend whom I know is reading it, the wall part was planned before your wall speech. **

**R&R please. For a chess set? No? How 'bout a can of orange crush?**


	4. Exploding apples

**Yay! New chappie, and that's two fic updates for one day!**

* * *

"Don't you dare decapitate me!" I hollered, carefully dodging about the seventh kunai the kid had aimed at my head. Kakashi had made me, a living, breathing, person, be a target for his three students.

Oh well, at least they suck. Well, two out of three suck, the other had nearly decapitated me more than once.

And Kakashi, the ignorant bum, just sat there, reading his book. I bet he only hired me so he could read that stupid books of his.

What's in that book anyway? Because if it's a dictionary that he taped a fake book cover to so that he could slack, someone's going to die.

I ducked and dived to the right at the same time, avoiding Naruto's and Sakura's kunai.

I smirked. That was awesome, and I landed neatly too.

I stood up quickly; grinning happily, once I'd realized that they'd ran out of kunai.

Well, almost. Sasuke had one hidden in a pocket in his pants. He pulled it out, smirking evilly as he did so.

My eye's widened in terror for a moment, before I realized I could use it to my advantage.

Wait, what advantage? I'm only supposed to be a target.

Oh well.

I grinned maliciously as I caught the kunai. I twirled it daintily between my fingers for a moment before letting it go flying towards Kakashi's book. My grinned widened as the kunai hit the book.

Kakashi's eye went wide in surprise as the book went flying from his hands and became pinned to a nearby tree.

I'd heard many stories about how much Kakashi liked the book series, although I was never quite sure how much until after noticing the look of horror mirrored on each of the teens faces.

"Well, you owe me a new book" Kakashi began, obvious displeasure in his voice.

"Excuse me!" I exclaimed, trying not to laugh at the look of horror still plastered onto their faces.

"You're the sensei here, is doesn't do much good to be slacking!" I said loudly.

Kakashi gave me a look that said: 'Shut-up-or-you're-going-back-to-your-old-job'. I cowered in fear.

Oh no! The old job threat….you'd figure he could come up with something more original.

"Can we do something else" Sasuke asked, his voice disinterested, like always. "I'm bored."

My face became thoughtful as I thought of many things I could do; most of them involved either setting something on fire, fuzzy socks, or burning up Wacdonalds (Which is a very evil place full of fatty foods and a clown mascot that's the spawn of Satan).

Kakashi noticed this and promptly said: "Chakra focusing" he said, "practice focusing your chakra and shooting apples out of that tree." A frowned formed on my face.

Party pooper.

Wait, where's the party?

Hah! This _is_ the party.

Oh, who am I kidding, no it's not.

Kakashi pulled out a manila folder out of his vest pocket and promptly began looking over it.

"Whatcha doin'?" I asked, peering over his shoulder.

I had to stand on my tiptoes he was so tall. He slapped me on the head with the folder, hard, might I add.

I clasped my hand to my head in mock pain.

"I'm trying to read the fiel for the latest murder, you, on the other, should be watching the students." I waited for him to finish glaring at me adn start reading before I started reading over his shoudler again.

I giggled like a girl who hadn't had much sleep and was laughing because something was so obvious.

"Isn't it odd how the body fell into those chalk lines" I joked.

Kakashi glared at me in frustration before smacking me with the folder. "Can you take this seriously?" He asked, judging from his tone he was one the verge of being seriously pissed.

I shook my head, grey eyes wide and innocent. This time when he started to read I went over to help with the chakra focusing.

They nodded in greeting as I approached. I cringed as I realized it was Naruto's turn.

His face scrunched up and concentration as he focused all the chakra to his hand. A blast of chakra shot out from his hand and hit an apple.

Instead of knocking it out of the tree, it blew up.

"Naruto!" I snapped. I wiped apple chunks off my face. "Don't get distracted!"

I plucked a piece of apple off my nose and shoved it in my mouth. I chewed it slowly, ignoring the weird look Sakura gave me.

It tasted like apple, a mushy one, but a normal apple all the same. I glanced at Kakashi, who was standing around, reading the case file.

I know catching a murderer is important, but really, leaving an inexperienced teacher to look after his three students. Not exactly smart.

"Slacker" I muttered. Sasuke glanced at me before standing in front of the tree.

"Don't underestimate him" He said simply.

I didn't cringe as he released the chakra; I assumed Sasuke had the sense not to get distracted. I was wrong.

He cast a sideways smirk at Naruto, his way of saying 'Hell ya, I'm gonna do this better than you.'

And presto, instant distraction; yet another apple explosion.

I ducked and covered my head as the apple chunks went flying.

I could hear the crunchy smack when they hit Sasuke, Naruto (Who was laughing madly), and Sakura.

I straitened myself, pulling an apple piece out of my hair and flicking it away.

"Alright, anyone who misses has to do five push ups" I said irritably.

"What is it with you and push ups?" Naruto whined.

"It pays off" I informed him.

Sasuke scoffed in disbelief. "You can barely do five."

I shrugged, "Learn from my mistakes."

"That will be a long class" Sasuke commented dryly.

"Thank- WAIT A MINUTE!" I screamed, after catching on. "Five laps around this place" I commanded.

I was going to make him do push-ups, but then I remember that he was a push-up madman, and changed it.

Sasuke shrugged and began running around the training grounds.

"Why doesn't he have to do push-ups?" Naruto complained.

I looked at him wisely. "Because, young grasshopper" I stated. "He has mastered the ways of the push-up."

Sakura looked at me, her eyebrows were raised skeptically, her eyes looked full of sympathy, and one side of her of her lip twitched into a grimace.

I knew that look, it was the crazy look.

I scowled. Oh how I hate the crazy look.

But, then again, they brought back good memories.

"Get back to work" I snapped.

"O-ok" Sakura stammered, standing in front of the tree. I waited patiently for the apple chunks to come flying, and, right on time, they did. I cringed as a apple piece hit my forehead.

This could take some work.

* * *

**Uhh, not much to say, I'm bored, adn thats it.**


	5. The way of the pushup

Meh, ntohing to say.

* * *

"Garg! Kakashi's late" Naruto fumed.

I sighed. Three weeks of being on the job, and I was used to it already, he could at least be patient.

I saw his point though. Kakashi was normally only an hour late, not three.

"Garg isn't a word" Sasuke stated, sounding as bored as ever.

"Sensei?" Sakura asked me.

I looked up, a little startled at being addressed.

"Yeah?" "Can we do something" Sakura asked, her tone sounding incredibly whiny.

"Yeah" Naruto agreed.

"Well" I said, stroking my chin thoughtfully, "We could do-"

"NO" they screamed in unison, stopping me from saying 'Push-ups'.

"Well, fine" I huffed, crossing my arms, "Be that way." We lapsed into silence.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something. "No ramen" Sakura said, stopping him from talking.

"I know!" I screamed, pointing into the air. I could see an imaginary light bulb above my head lighting up.

Sasuke looked at me, eyebrows raised.

"Sasuke" I began, "Teach us the way of the push-up!"

"I thought we agreed to no push-ups" Sakura said, sounding irritated.

I sighed.

"Well, since Sasuke's the only one who does push-ups the right way, I feel he should teach us" I explained.

Sasuke shook his head.

"Hey! Kakashi's not here, I'm in charge" I snapped.

He rolled his eyes and took push-up stance. I smirked at my victory.

We copied Sasuke's stance. We got on our hands and knees, pushed ourselves up using our hands, which were turned inward.

Sasuke lowered himself down slightly. We all followed him.

Sometimes I really felt I was just one of the students, albeit older, but I did learn some things. Apples taste good blown up, for example.

Seven push-ups later, I stopped. I sat on the ground cross-legged and watched everyone else.

Sasuke looked like a pro, and it was starting to tick me off.

I walked over and sat on his back, crossing my legs again.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura looked horrified that I had decided to sit on Sasuke.

"Try and do a push-up now" I commanded.

Oh, he tried; I'll give him that, but he was no match for my secret weight.

I looked quite skinny, but I weighed more than I let on.

Sasuke collapsed on the ground.

"Showed you" I muttered as Sakura gaped in horror.

"Getoffame" Sasuke muttered, his face in the dirt.

"What was that?" I asked, not moving.

He turned his head to the side so he could speak clearly.

"Get off" he repeated. I smiled and got off him, I took my old spot in between Naruto and Sakura.

They edged way slowly.

"Sasuke! Are you okay?!" Sakura gushed, kneeling beside him.

Sasuke sat up, brushing the dirt off his face.

"Well, I would be. If she hadn't tried to crush me" Sasuke said, glaring in my direction.

"Well, at least we know that you're not like super-human strong" I said, shrugging of the glare. Naruto took some comfort in that.

I swear the look Sasuke was giving me totally said "Wanna bet."

Sasuke tried to stand up, but clasped his back in pain.

"You will die" he threatened.

I shrugged, "Not if I sit on you." Naruto chuckled. Sasuke looked like he was about to retort, but stopped short.

Naruto and Sakura were oddly silent too.

"Akiko" Kakashi's voice said from behind me.

I jumped onto my feet in surprise.

"I would appreciate if you didn't try and crush my students" he continued, there was a bemused tone in his voice.

"I'm not the one who was late" I muttered, sounding like a small child. I always do that.

Why?

I don't know. I just do.

"I have a reason" he stated.

"Why? Is it something awesome?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Depends how you define awesome" Kakashi said calmly.

"Just spill it" I said, obviously as excited as Naruto, just acting calmer about it.

"We have a mission" he said.

"Doing what?" Sakura asked.

"We have to get blueprints for a new building in Konoha from Land of Rice Fields"

-I cringed, that was where I grew up. -

"And we must be very careful with it" Kakashi finished.

"Blueprints for what?" Sasuke asked.

"Ice cream store" Kakashi said simply, his tone suggesting he really didn't care.

"Ice cream?" I inquired, my tone suggesting I did care.

He nodded.

"Another D-rank mission" Naruto complained.

"You never know with those ice cream rivals" I said.

"Nothing's gonna happen" Sakura sighed.

"Pack up" Kakashi said, stopping our complaints,

"We leave at 1:30."

"1:38" I corrected.

"1:30" Kakashi argued.

"1:35" I said, changing my offer. I almost felt like I was bidding on something.

"Fine" he sighed, "Now go get packed." I nodded, ushering the students away with me (Smacking them on the head a few times because I was skipping violently).

A part of me was a little scared, I hadn't been home in almost three years, and I wasn't sure how I was going to react. But, then again, maybe I could find some way to make it fun.

* * *

**R&R, I made the worst typo I've ever done before writing this. You see, when Akiko was like "Not if I sit on you" I was tellign someone to shut up. So it ended up more like this: "Not if I sh on you" and I didn't notice until I proof-read it.**


	6. Packing

**Nothing new, so just read.**

* * *

I ran into the house, hurtling full force past the kitchen and living room and up the stairs. 

My uncle only gave a bored "Hi Akiko" before turning back to the television.

Although, I suppose seeing me running full-force through the house wouldn't be that odd.

I rummaged through my closet, pulling out a suitcase and my sword.

I was never really comfortable with using kunai and my main strength was sword fighting.

I pulled out a ton of clothes from my drawers and shoved only a few into my suitcase. Why do they even call it a suitcase?

I mean, they have absolutely nothing to do with suits.

I sighed heavily when I shoved a small case of pads into a secret compartment in my bag. I don't know why, but it always happens whenever I decided I should go on a trip.

I smiled as I went over the contents of the bag.

There, all done, in ten minutes. I

zipped the bag shut and ran down the stairs.

"Mission, I'll be gone for a few days" I explained hurriedly to my uncle, who had finally become aware I had rushed into the house.

"Wait!" My uncle cried, stopping me from leaving.

"Yes?" I asked, pretending to be impatient.

I had half-an-hour to spare, and I wanted to spend it doing something fun, or, in the least, outside.

"You should at least bring some food" My uncle said, his tone suggesting that he thought this was something any normal person would know.

Well, I have news for him, I'm not normal.

Not normal in the least.

All the same, I allowed him to pack a picnic lunch for us.

I couldn't really see a downside to food, besides he had to pack it in a separate bag that I was supposed to carry with me.

I readjusted my sword so that it hung from my belt, not my back.

I swiftly slipped on the bag with the food, and ran out as fast as I could.

I turned to wave goodbye through the window, but in the process tripped over my foot and fell onto the road.

I pulled myself up and sat cross-legged in the middle of the road for a moment before remember that it was a road, where people tend to walk.

I stood up quickly, grabbing my bag and heading back towards the training grounds.

When I arrived, Kakashi was the only one there. He stood in the center of the grounds, just staring absentmindedly at the sky.

I stopped, and took it in for a moment.

Until now I had never realized that Kakashi, even through his calm expression looked somewhat sad.

Not like super-depressed sad, just a little sad.

"It didn't take you long to pack" Kakashi said, shifting his gaze to me.

I shrugged, "What can I say, I don't need much."

Kakashi turned away, looking bored.

"So, how's the murder thing going?" I asked, intending to start a conversation.

"There was another one last night" he said, his tone never wavering.

I knew he wasn't emotionless, but at times like these he can be as unenthusiastic as a drowsy toddler.

"What?!" I asked, sounding amazed, "That's the third in the past two weeks!"

Kakashi nodded solemnly. "That's why I have to work so much harder to catch him" he said.

"So," I said, summing it up, "Basically, I have more work to do."

Kakashi nodded, "Yeah."

I moaned in mock-despair.

"I'm starting to wonder why I hired you" Kakashi muttered thoughtfully.

"Yeah, me too" I agreed.

Kakashi looked at me sharply.

I flinched under his gaze.

"What?" I asked.

I assumed it was because I had food on my face.

Maybe it was that pudding I had for breakfast.

"Have you ever heard 'pallens intereo primoris'?" He asked.

Pallens intereo primoris? What kind of gibberish was that?

"Nope" I shook my head, "Sounds like Latin though. Why do you ask?"

Kakashi looked away from me slightly.

"It was written on a wall at the murder scene in the victim's blood" He explained.

I shuddered. "Ugh, that's just creepy." I paused.

"Wait, should you even be telling me this?" I asked.

Really, whatever happened to 'It's classified.'.

Kakashi shrugged. "Not like you have anyone to tell this too."

"Yeah" I agreed slowly.

"Oi! Wait a minute! Did you just?! Ugh!" I fumed, suddenly catching onto the insult.

Kakashi chuckled, "Are you always this slow?"

I stuck out my bottom lip in anger.

"Only when I don't need to be smart" I replied, keeping my childish tone.

"Naruto and Sakura aren't here I take it" Sasuke said, sitting between us calmly.

I jumped. Oh, great, a twelve year old can sneak up on me.

My ninja skills must look really bad.

"Nope" Kakashi said. I flopped onto the ground with an over-exaggerated sigh.

"We will be here forever" I moaned.

Sasuke smirked and I rolled my eyes. Does that kid do anything besides smirk?

Naruto arrived five minutes later, babbling about some random evil cat.

I totally sympathize with the kid.

We discussed our evil cat issues for half an hour before Sakura decided to show up.

How long does it take to pack? I shrugged it off.

"We all ready?" I asked. They nodded in unison.

"You don't have to go to the bathroom,? 'Cause, lemme tell you now; I will not stop at a bush" I pestered.

Naruto flushed before running towards the nearest place with a bathroom.

"You guys don't have to?" I asked Sasuke and Sakura.

Sakura gave me this look of disgust; Sasuke just shook his head again.

"Well…" I said, drawing out the word slowly.

Kakashi looked around in boredom, Sasuke tapped his foot, and Sakura just looked irritated.

"I'm back! I'm back! Let's go!" Naruto screamed as he ran back towards us, his hands waving frantically in the air.

"You heard the man" I said boldly.

Sasuke scoffed at the word 'man'.

"Let's go!" I pointed my hand in the air and began marching east.

"Akiko, we're going this way" Kakashi said, pointing north.

"Right!" I said, turning on my heel and marching in that direction.

"Onward fellow ninja's!" I declared.

"We'll leave you behind" Kakashi threatened.

I sighed dejectedly and began walking like a sane person.

Shame on him. He has no decency.

Making me act sane is like getting Naruto to stop eating ramen.

It'll never happen.

* * *

**Uhh..yeah...R&R...well, this is awkward. Bye.**


	7. Mr Cuddlekins

**Ok, first off, pardon any mistakes, I didn't get anyone to proofread it in hope that my normal editor would review instead of just emailing me**

* * *

The girl took a dainty sip of the empty tea cup. The room she sat in was dark with the exception of a small candle in the middle of table. The candlelight danced across her face slowly. The strands of hair that had fallen out of the girls pigtails cast a dramatic shadow over her face.

"You know" she said to the over-stuffed bear seated next to her, "He may be more troublesome than I thought." She sat in silence.

"Shall we eliminate him?" A deep, accented, voice asked.

The girl laughed. It was a cold, heartless laugh.

"No, let's wait, if he becomes more troublesome however."

The man behind her nodded "Understood."

The silence in the room made it feel oddly like time had frozen.

"Would you like some more tea, Mr.Cuddlekins?" she asked the bear.

The bear sat in silence as the girl reached across the table and poured some imaginary tea into the bear's cup.

* * *

**I swear this has a purpose! It is relevent. Maybe. Ok, yes, yes it is. But, ah, the brillance, no one knows it purpose, except for me...and, perchance, a friend whom helped me with the plot. No telling who. Any who, I will go back to the normal story, with the same amount of randomness. I'll update sometime this week. **

**Toodles.**


	8. But we would eat ramen!

**This took a little longer than I'd planned, but I digress. It's up, and thats all that matters. Pardon any mistakes, my spell-check shut down in the last little bit.**

* * *

"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall" I sang.

I was stuck on a six hour walk, and I was going to enjoy it, no matter how annoyed everyone else got. "

Be quiet, unless you want me to leave you here" Kakashi said, sounding really annoyed and tired.

Hah, he can't three hours with me, well, I have news, there's three more to go!

I cackled manically. "Ah, but I know my way there!" I exclaimed.

"How?" Sakura asked.

I bit the inside of my lip sadly. "I used to live there" I responded. The memories still stung.

"Why'd you move to Konoha then" Sasuke asked, sounding eager to get some of my past out of me.

"I wanted to become a sensei" was my calm reply.

Ok, so it was a total lie, I was only seventeen and couldn't live by myself was a more likely answer.

That and the fact I wasn't sure I would be able to go back.

I think Kakashi saw through the lie, he just kinda stared at me blankly before resuming walking.

Oh well, it's like I was hiding anything; I just didn't like to talk about it unless I was forced to.

We walked in dull silence. I bit my lip to keep myself from saying something stupid.

An idea struck me, and I was surprised no one heard my gasp.

"Naruto" I hissed.

He kept on walking

"Naruto!" I hissed a little louder.

Kakashi glanced at me.

"Naruto!" I snapped.

He turned around. "What?" He asked, sounding afraid.

I would be too I was him.

If someone you know has been dubbed a crazy person, it's naturally frightening when they snap at you.

"I have a plan" I whispered dramatically.

His young face grew interested. "

What?" He whispered back.

I grinned and told him my plan.

Naruto's grin grew with every word I used to explain.

"Alright" I screamed out, causing everyone to turn their heads to face me.

"A one, a two, a one two three four." I counted the numbers down on my hand, which I had raised into the air.

"If I had a million dollars" I sang loudly.

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura sighed and turned back to facing forwards.

It's sad when people know you so well that when you burst into song they just ignore it.

"If I had a million dollars" Naruto echoed.

I could hear the resounding slap as Sasuke's hand made contact with his forehead.

"I'd buy you a house!" I sang.

"I would buy you a house" Naruto's voice rose in pitch.

Kakashi groaned and Sakura clenched her fists tightly.

"If I had a million dollars" I sang, making my voice go out of key. Naruto echoed, singing in normal key, which was still way off.

I had a feeling that the groups tolerance for idiots had dropped.

"I'd buy you furniture for your house" I pretend to skim through my wallet casually.

"Maybe a nice Chesterfield or an Ottoman." Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion.

He knew the song, but not what he was singing about.

Real smart Naruto, real smart.

"And if I had a million dollars."

I swear I head Sakura humming, it was that or Sasuke just decided she smelled bad and had to move away.

"If I had a million dollars" Naruto copied.

If we hadn't been singing, I woulda so hurt him by now.

"I'd buy you a K-car" I sang.

My face twisted into a confused look.

Would I buy someone a car?

No, no I would not.

I would buy them a pony.

I clamped my hand over Naruto's mouth as he was about to sing.

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Scratch that" I said. Everyone sighed in relief.

"I would buy you a pony" I sang, improvising.

Kakashi's back straightened, as if him as restraining himself.

"A nice reliable Lipizzaner" Naruto sang.

His face revealed the laughter he was trying oh so hard not to let out.

I heard a faint humming sound again, in tune to the song, I think it came from Sakura.

"If I had a million dollars" I sang loudly, enjoying the irritated way both Sasuke and Kakashi's back hunched over.

I nudged Naruto, letting him know that it was his cue too.

"I'd buy your LOVE" We sang in unison.

I inhaled sharply, knowing well that I'd need my breath for the next part.

Naruto nodded at me, then Kakashi. I got what he was getting at.

I grinned and sang with him as if we weren't planning something else.

"If I had a million dollars, I'd build a tree house in our yard" Naruto and I sang.

Naruto's grin was that of enjoyment, mine was that of evil plotting.

"If I had a million dollars" Naruto sang alone, leaving me to creep up to Kakashi.

I tip-toed swiftly, the noise of my walking covered completely by Naruto's singing.

I was right by his shoulder by the time of my line.

"You could help it wouldn't be that hard" I sang, standing up a little taller so I could peer over his shoulder.

I streched out the side of his mask slightly, pulling it off his face a little.

Sakura gasped in awe.

I blinked in confusion.

What did I do?

Kakashi slapped my hand away, harshly, may I add.

He seemed annoyed.

"Maybe we could put a little tiny fridge in there somewhere" Sakura said, joining in.

She seemed nervous about it.

I grinned warmly, welcoming her to the sing-a-long.

"You know, we could just go up there and hand out" I suggested, in a sing-song voice.

"Like open the fridge and stuff" Naruto added.

I heard Sasuke mumbling "Make it stop."

Kakashi heard him and patted his head sympathitcally.

"There would already be food laid out for us!" Sakura said. Her tone was quiet, as if she wanted to sing, but not to upset Sasuke.

"Like little pre-wraped sasauges and stuff" Naruto agreed, nodding.

I paused, looking thoughtful.

"They have pre-wrapped sausages but they don't have pre-wrapped bacon" I said, sounding somewhat angry, but still singing.

"Well, can you blame 'em?" Sasuke asked, turning on his heel. He looked angry, his eyebrow was moving up and down slightly.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

He wasn't even aware he had just joined in.

His eyes widened in horror as he realised what must've happened.

Or my my grin just scared the hell outta him. I'm guessing the latter.

"Well, cha" Naruto and I said in unison.

I opened my mouth to sing again.

A metal blur wizzed past my head.

"Look, this is taking long enough without you guys singing" Kakashi said, his irritation reaching his voice.

"Ah, but it's taking less time for us now" I pointed out.

Kakashi waved another kunai threatingly.

I decided to skip a verse and cut it short.

"If I had a million dollars" I sang, ducking the kunai.

"We wouldn't have to walk to the store" Sakura, Naruto and I sang together.

"We'd take a limosine cause it costs more" Naruto sang.

Sakura's eyes went all starry and crap at the thought.

"If we had a million dollars" we all sang.

Naruto and Sakura paused, trying to remember the next line. I came up with an improvised version.

"We wouldn't have to eat ramen" I sang.

Naruto glared at me, "But we would eat ramen." His voice, although somewhat sing-song-y held a threatining tone.

Sakura laughed, "Of course we would."

I nodded. "We'd just eat more!"

Naruto stopped glaring. "And we'd have sort of expensive kinds"

I grinned, "That's right, all the fanciest ki--" I stopped, licking my lips for dramtic effect.

"Yum, djon ramen."

They all stopped and stared.

Even Kakashi, who had taken the time to turn around and glare at me.

"If I had a million dollars" I sang, holding up one finger to say it was the end.

"If I had a million dollars" Sakura sang.

"If I had a million dollars" Naruto sang.

"I'd be rich!" We all sang.

I took a bow, lowering on arm in front of me, the other in the air waving daintily.

I folded my arms as I straightened my back. "Oh _come_ on, you could at least applaud."

"Why?" Sasuke asked, looking less annoyed because it ended.

"Because we totally rocked?" Naruto suggested.

Kakashi and Sasuke stared at us blankly.

"Because we're finished?" I supplied, eyebrows raised curousily.

Kakashi raised both his hands up and slowly brought them together.

It made a silent little patting noise.

I scoffed. "A three year old could do better."

I walked up to him, grabbed his hands, and brought them together quickly.

It made a louder noise, not by much, but at least it didn't sound like little mice feet on hardwood.

"Can we hurry up?" Sasuke sighed exasperatedly. I

nodded briskly and marched ahead of the group.

"Slowpokes" I screamed, my pace changing from a march to a run.

Everyone else continued at the same pace.

I pouted and folded my arms.

"Well, fine, be no fun."

* * *

**This little chappie was based off of a plot my cousin and I had to walk to the town that takes fifteen minutes to drive to, but six hours to walk to. **

**Well, R&R, It makes me wanna finish faster.**


	9. The walking is done!

**Yeah, yeah, I know, this chapter is really short and boring, but I'm a little busy. In my writing life at least. Just read it.**

* * *

"Hey! Look! We're almost there!" I screamed, pointing ahead to the vague silloute of the town. The sun was edging it's way towards the horizon.

Of course the darker it got, those odd noises we kept on hearing got more unerving.

"So, how much longer?" Naruto asked. He sounded like that annoying kid in all the road trip movies. Actually, if this were a movie, he would be that kid. 

Aha! That's it! He could be an actor. 

Well, I suppose he's to fixed on being Hokage to do anything else

. There was an odd noise from the trees. It sounding somewhat like a 'rawr'. 

"Ah" I said wisely, "It must the be the tigers that inhabit the area."

"What makes you think there are any?" Kakashi asked, stuffing his hands in his pocket.

"Don't you watch any nature shows?" I asked.

He shook his head. 

"You've missed out on life" I said, feinging pity. 

"I'll survive" he replied. 

There was another mutalated noise from the bushes.

I sighed, I couldn't pretend I was noticing it anymore. 

"Naoki, you can come out now" I said impaitently.

My good ole' friend tumbled out of the bushes in some sort of dodge roll.

"How did you know it was me?" She asked, standing up. Her brown hair was a mess, well, more than it normal was, and her blue eyes reavealed her enjoyment. 

"And who's this?" Kakashi asked, patiently waiting for an introduction. 

I nodded. "Naoki, this is Kakashi, Kakashi. Naoki"I introduced.

Kakashi nodded curtly in her direction.

Naoki just grinned like she knew a secret. I hurried with the inroductions. I finished in no time. Really, there should be a introduction speed contest, I could win. 

"You were stalking us because…?" Kaskashi left the question hanging. 

Naoki shrugged, "Nothing better to do." 

"So" I said, summing it up. "You were bored, and decided to follow us?"

"Well, yeah. That and I haven't been back in a while" she explained. 

"Back?" Sakura asked, eyeing my friend in an odd manner. 

I understand why, really, she shouldn't have come out of the bush.

Naoki nodded eagerly. "Yeah, I used to live there, but then I moved to Konoha" She explained.

"Both of you?" Kakashi asked. We nodded in unison. 

"I moved after, but, yeah, we've been friends since we were little." 

"Hey, what's in the backpack?" Naoki asked, leaning back to examine it.

I paused, thinking about. My uncle had packed a picnic lunch, hadn't he. 

Crap, I forgot.

"It's a picnic lunch" I explained. 

"A little late for that, eh?" Sasuke commented dryly. 

"We could have a picnic supper" Naruto suggested, rubbing his stomach.

"Kakashi?" I said, asking for permission. 

Although, I suppose we could just sit down and he wouldn't a choice. 

"Fine" he said. My guess was he was hungry too. 

**_Time skip-_**

I completed packing up the remnants of half-eaten food and crammed it in my backpack. Never know when leftovers will come in handy. 

Naoki wrapped around her arm around Naruto's shoulders. 

"You're an idiot" Sasuke commented 

"Yeah, well, Naruto over here's a sex bomb" Naoki said. 

Sakura gagged on either the air or her own spit, and I laughed like a maniac.

The look on Sasuke's face was priceless, it was like a mixutre of scarring disgust and the crazy look.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at me, as if saying "You really know this mental case?" 

I shrugged in response.

I wrapped my arms around Kakashi and Sasuke's shoulders. 

"Onward great explorers!" I cried, walking forward and pushing them with me. 

Naoki removed her arm from Naruto and starting walking. Naruto and Sakura followed after. 

Kakashi pinched my hand and pulled it off his shoulder. 

I pouted at him, looking like a child.

Sasuke did the same, except I slapped the back of his head. 

"That hurt!" I snapped. 

"That was kind of the point" Kakashi said. 

I glared at him before going to converse with Naoki. 

It took us a mere half-hour to reach the town, although it was pitch black by the time we were there. 

Thankfully, I wasn't scared of the dark, anymore.

"No wandering off" Kakashi advised sternly. 

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto nodded. Oh, yes, because we would so go wandering around a town in the middle of the night. 

"Where are we staying?" I asked.

"Some bed and breakfast" Kakashi replied.

"I'm staying at my grandma's" Naoki said eagerly.

We walked forward, ignoring Naoki. I had a feeling she was pouting, but I didn't paticularly care. All I wanted was some place sleep and some time to rest my weary legs. 

"Here we are" Kakashi said, staring at the place were we would spend the night.

I froze as memories hit me like a tidal wave. I knew this place. I knew the light blue colored siding, the pathway to the door, the door itself. 

This was my old house.

**Maybe I'm a little slow on the romantic moments, eh? Alas, the next chapter should have a few. If I ever get it up heh heh.**

**Ok, not much left to say besides I named the laptop I typed this on Lappy. (Original)**

**R&R Please, give me some motivation to write faster.**


	10. 3 AM

****

I would definitly say not my bestest chappie, but, hey, at least theres a little bit of romance, kinda.

Chapter Number Ten! Shall we have a party? Oh yes, yes we shall! -Hands out cupcakes with #13 candles on them- What?! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find number ten candles?

**Read on, young explorers!**

* * *

I shifted awkwardly in my bed. They had turned my house into a bed and breakfast. A friggen' bed and breakfast.

Those bastards.

The room I was staying in had been my brothers, and it really hurt to be in there. It felt like something was tugging at my heart, seeing how long it took for it to finally snap. The stain on the wall that I had made when using glitter gel was still there. And yes, I used glitter gel in my brother's room.

I had a compelling urge to go visit my parents graves, but, then again, that would only hurt me more than I already was. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed so I could sit up. I didn't think I could last much. The last thing I wanted to do to wallow in misery about this, and sadly, that was happening.

Maybe visiting their grave would help. How visiting my dead parents grave would make me left depressed was beyond me, but a part of me wanted to go.

I stood up and ambled my way out of my room and down the stairs.

"Where exactly are you going at this hour?" A voice asked as I neared the door.

I wheeled around towards the living room. Kakashi was sitting on the couch, a manila folder lying on the coffee table in front of him.

"Cemetery" I offered. Well, I must've sounded like a mental case.

"At this hour?" Kakashi inquired.

"Time being?" I asked.

"About two" he said, checking his watch.

"You're up this late?" I asked, sounding shocked.

"So are you" he pointed out.

I pouted slightly.

"You could always go in the daylight" Kakashi suggested.

"You could do that in the daylight too" I retorted.

"You're not going out" Kakashi stated firmly.

"Why not?" I asked. I could go if I wanted to, I was technically an adult.

"It's late, it's going to be a long walk home tomorrow" Kakashi said.

"You need your rest too" I commented.

"I need less than you" He said calmly, flicking off my comment.

"I'm going" I stated. He really didn't have a say in whether of not I went.

"There are fat guys with overalls and rubber boots" Kakashi warned. He glanced back down at the folder on the table.

I think he was teasing, but really, this place had always been a little odd.

Ick, fat dudes in overalls, in a cemetery. Not exactly a pleasant image.

"Maybe I should stay" I chuckled nervously.

Kakashi patted the couch cushion next to him without looking up. I sat down, feeling defeated.

I suppose I didn't have to sit down, but, the idea of fat dudes in a cemetery was rather unnerving.

"Why exactly did you want to go to a cemetery at three a.m?" Kakashi asked, looking at me strangely.

Well, it was official, he thought I was crazy.

"No reason" I said sadly. No way was I talking about this in front of Kakashi.

Talking would lead to crying which would be humiliating.

"Let me get this straight: You woke up in the middle of the night and just decided to go to a cemetery?" Kakashi asked.

I nodded weakly. Jeez, I hated lying, but, I really didn't feel like crying.

"Did it have something to do with your family?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow.

Damn, bulls-eye.

I folded my arms. "Maybe."

"You don't have to talk about it" Kakashi said, his tone flat.

Now, this brought upon a question: How could he sound relatively caring and yet bored at the same time. That kid had talent.

"Thanks" I muttered. I looked down at the table.

There were a few gruesome pictures that I won't describe, and various notes scribbled down.

The handwriting style varied for almost every one.

"Murders?" I inquired.

Kakashi nodded solemnly. I picked up one picture and examined it.

"Why would someone do something like this?" I gasped, referring to the way the person had been murder.

It looked like they had been stabbed numerous times.

"I honestly don't know" Kakashi said. Judging from his tone he had a slight idea.

"Should I really be looking at this?" I asked.

"Are you planning on reveling this to any newspaper source?" He asked me.

"Uhm, depends how much they'll pay" I teased.

"Technically, you're my assistant, so you may be allowed to help out" He said thoughtfully.

Would I want to help out with a murder thing? No, no I would not.

"You're just much of a fatty to want to do this on your own" I snapped jokingly.

"Did you just call me a fatty?" He asked, sounding shocked.

"Well, actually, you're quite skinny, but, really, would you rather be called fat or skinny?" I asked. I was quite curious actually.

"If you're not going to help, just go to your room" he sighed.

Wait, did he just tell me to go to my room?

Oh, he is not the boss of me.

Well, technically he is…but that's not the point.

I sighed in defeat and picked up a paper. I skimmed the pages slowly.

My eyelids grew heavy over time and I started to slouch. I was probably destined for bad posture anyway.

I sagged over, leaning on Kakashi's shoulder. I was half asleep at the time so he really couldn't blame me, although he probably did.

Kakashi elbowed me away and I tumbled to the the floor. My eyes shot open. The floor was an uncomfortable as I remembered, which is when another pang of sadness struck.

I rolled onto my back and propped myself up on my elbows.

"Bastard" I grumbled.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to invade people's personal space?" He asked.

Then he noticed how depressed my expression was.

"What's wrong?" He asked, lightening his tone a little.

"Nothing" I said, pouting.

"You suck at lying" Kakashi said, laughing slightly.

"You wanna know what's wrong?" I asked, standing up. I wasn't sure why, but I felt a little angry.

Kakashi stared at me blankly.

"Because I used to live here!" I snapped.

Kakashi looked like he suddenly understood. "Before…" He said.

I had a feeling he was avoiding the last few words of the sentence on purpose.

I nodded sadly, my little anger spurt having faded away.

"You didn't have to stay here" Kakashi said gently, "You could've stayed at your friend's place."

I raised my eyebrow in mock horror. "Why would I do that?" I asked.

He chuckled slightly. "She did seem a litte…odd."

I nodded in agreement.

"You can sit back down" Kakashi said, nodding at the couch.

I sank down into the cushions slowly.

On one hand, I was tired, on the other hand, I felt oddly depressed.

I flopped over sideways, managing to fit myself on one cushion only.

I pulled my knees into my chest and wrapped my arms around, holding them tightly against. I rather liked this position, and I slowly started drifting off to sleep.

"Sleeping on the couch?" Kakashi asked calmly.

"What's your point?" I asked irritably. I was just about to fall asleep, and he just had to talk.

"Your bed is probably more comfortable" He pointed out.

"Unless you plan on carrying me, I am not moving" I stated firmly.

"Alright then" Kakashi said, although he sounded a little disbelieving.

Did he doubt my lazy personality?

My nostril twitched slightly. Drat, they hadn't changed they couches, it still smelled like my old couch.

That was when I started to shake. I was nowhere near tears, nor was I cold. I just started to tremble. At least, I didn't want to cry. Sure, I was sad, but I wasn't going to cry unless I was forced to do some serious reminiscing.

I could pretty much hear Kakashi rolling his eyes. I was half-expecting some odd comment, or nothing at all.

hen, I felt something patting the side of my head soothingly.

It felt like a round thing with five little extensions. A hand?

I shifted a little to see Kakashi.

He was…what the hell?

He was patting my head. Of all the weird ways to comfort someone. Believe me, there'd been some weird ones, and patting the head hadn't taken the cake.

Singing 'If you were gay' took the cake.

Oddly enough, the head patting felt somewhat nice.

"You can go to the cemetery tomorrow" Kakashi promised.

A little odd that someone I dedicated a lot of my time to annoying was now being nice and comforting me.

I smiled slightly. That sounding nice, maybe I could bring some flowers or something.

My eyes slowly closed and I slipped into peaceful dreams about ice cream and musicals.

* * *

Should my next chapter be about the dream or the next day? Hmmm...decisions decisions.

Alright, I want REVIEWS people! (Heh, writing that made me feel cool) But really, I would like a review or two..it makes me wanna write more.


	11. Fredzilla

****

Yay, new update. Many thanks to my cousin...again. Read, and ignore any thing that may perchance fly by your window..-nervous giggle-

_

* * *

__Now, I was 66 percent sure I was dreaming. _

_For one thing, there was a incredibly large tower looming above me. For another, there was a giant man in an astronaut suit holding onto the top of the tower with one hand, in the other he held a unicorn. _

_"Fredzilla!" Someone next to me cried. He had a funny accent and a odd mustache that curled at the end. _

_"So, the astronauts name is Fred?" I asked, trying to clarify things. _

_The man shook his head, the mustache swaying with. "No, his name is Bob" He corrected. _

_"Ah, ok, that makes se—wait, what?" I asked. I was seriously confused, this was really weird. _

_I look back up at 'Bob'. He was using the hand holding the unicorn to swat at something buzzing around above his head. _

_It was hard to see from the ground, but it looked like a man who was flapping his arms. The only feature I could see clearly was two bright blue shoes._

_"Give me ice cream or give me death!" Bob cried. I stared up at the man on the tower. _

_Well, he was not getting ice cream now. _

_Bob seemingly realized his mistake. _

_"Give me ice cream" he boomed, "or the unicorn dies."_

_There was a collective gasp from a crowd behind me that I had only just noticed._

_I heard mummers that sounding oddly like singing._

_"Oh, where, oh, where did the ice cream go" The man beside me sang. _

_I glanced around, I couldn't let an innocent unicorn die. Well, I hoped it was innocent, not secretly some mass murderer. _

_There was an ice cream store right there. _

_"Oh, I dunno, maybe right there" I said sarcastically, nodding towards the ice cream place._

_The man whistled. "Oh, trusty steed!" He called. _

_Trusty steed? A broom flew at him and he caught it by the handle. _

_"Aha! I prevail! Harry Potter does not tell lies!" He exclaimed. _

_I twitched._

_Was that supposed to be a joke? If it was, it was a terrible one._

_He jumped on the broom and flew off, laughing like a madman. Or, maybe an idiots idea of a hero. He slammed into the sign and fell onto the ground. _

_"Worked on Harry Potter" He muttered before walking in. _

_I waited patiently, kind of hoping that Kakashi would dump cold water on me. This dream was beyond normal. _

_Then again, what if it was real? _

_"Bob?!" I called. Bob looked down at me menacingly. _

_I cowered in fear. _

_"My name is Fred you impudent fool" He snapped._

_Wait, he was Fred, not Bob, but then who was Bob? This was confusing._

_Wait, hold up, 'impudent'? I glared at him evilly. I didn't like being called things like impudent, that was just so medieval warlord. _

_"Thou had made me unable to blink" Fred/Bob cried in agony. He narrowed his eyes, trying to blink. _

_"Caawww" A voice cried. Fred/Bob's eyes widened in terror as he turned his head to face the voice. It was the blue-shoed man! _

_Mustache dude ran out of the ice cream shop, holding up a large thing of ice cream. _

_The blue-shoed man flew down, flapping his arms like he was drowning. _

_He grabbed the ice cream and took it to Fred/Bob. Fred/Bob shoved the ice cream in his mouth and descended down the tower. _

_He gently placed the unicorn on the ground. _

_Fred/Bob removed his helmet, tucking it under his arm. Blue-shoed man landed on his shoulders and mustache man climbed onto his broom and landed next to blue-shoed man. _

_Fred/Bob opened his mouth. I cringed, expecting aomething bad._

_"So she said what's the problem baby" He sang, "What's the problem? I dunno, well, maybe I in love. Love. Think about it every time I think about, can't stop thinking 'bout it. Can't stop thinking 'bout love." His singing voice was rough and scratchy, like a dehydrated man with a cat in his throat. _

_I cringed in horror._

_Oh, would someone just wake me up! _

_He got further into the chorus and began dancing. The crowd joined in too._

_I twitched in annoyance. If someone would just wake me up. _

_The world began shaking violently. _

_"Earthquake" I screamed, ducking and covering my head. _

_The tower fell forward, falling towards me. I screamed silently, bracing myself for the blow._

_It never came._

My eyes shot open. Sakura was peering over me.

She had been the one shaking me.

I guess I forgot to mention that we were sharing a room. So were Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke.

"You okay?" She asked. I nodded slightly. I was still massively thrown off from the dream. And, for another thing, what was I doing in my room?

I knew I had fallen asleep on the couch, so, unless I was sleepwalking, Kakashi would've had to move me. Well, his arms may be tired..heh, well, maybe not, I'm pretty light. I looked around.

"Accidentally in Love?" I asked, looking around for the source of the music.

"Yeah, Naruto's playing it" Sakura explained, sighing.

I grimaced, poor Sasuke. Poor Kakashi.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"I had the weirdest dream" I said, rubbing my eyes.

"About what?" Sakure inquired. I had a feeling she was trying to ignore the music.

"Singing gigantic astronauts" I told her, cringing.

Sakura laughed and grimaced. Lovely combination.

"Shall we go save Kakashi and Sasuke?" I asked, swinging my legs off the bed. Sakura nodded.

I stood up and we walked down the hall to the guys room. I placed a hand on the doorknob. The metal was cold and smooth.

"Shouldn't we knock first?" Sakura asked.

"No!" I exclaimed. The music was still playing, and I didn't think Sasuke's sanity could take much more.

I twisted the knob in a frantic motion.

The door was pushed open and I shoved my head in.

"Would you turn that off!" I hollered. Three heads turned to face me.

Sasuke looked like was heading towards the door, Naruto was most likely dancing, and Kakashi was sitting in a chair, folder in front of his face. My best bet was he was trying to ignore the madness.

After one look at my bed-headed, angry faced self Naruto ran towards the radio and turned it off. Sasuke nodded in thanks and I ran out the door.

"To breakfast!" I hollered, skipping down the stairs. Sakura followed me, looking sane.

"What's for breakfast?" I asked, peering into the kitchen.

The man who now lived here looked up, "Pancakes."

I did a quick sailors kick before sitting down at the table.

Sasuke and Sakura walked in. Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, he saw the sailor kick.

I grinned and waved.

"Morning" Sasuke grunted.

"G'morning!" I trilled. My expression became serious, "You owe me."

"I owe you nothing" Sasuke said coolly.

"Don't start anything" Sakura warned. I nodded. It was too early to start anything, seeing as how I pretty much just woke up.

Kakashi came down shortly. He sat down beside me.

"Thanks" I muttered to him, and then began devouring the pancakes like a hungry, rabid, mongoose.

And, yes, I've seen one. Naruto ran into the room, "Do I smell pancakes?!" He asked excitedly.

Kakashi nodded, not eating. I guess if he didn't want people to see his face, he would have to eat when people aren't looking.

I diverted my attention to the pancakes.

And, guess what, when I looked up the pancake on Kakashi's plate had disappeared. After breakfast we sat in the living room, talking about day plans.

"Ok,we have about three hours until we go get the blueprints, you can do whatever you want until then" Kakashi said.

"We can meet at the coffee shop when we're done" I suggested.

"Alright" Kakashi said, "You've got three hours, go wild."

**If anyone out there is truly brillant you would pick up on the Whose Line parodies...heh, if not, they're on youtube...somewhere.**

**R&R**


	12. Lamp post

**

* * *

**********

Erm

****

, yeah, here it is...

********

, yeah, here it is...

, yeah, here it is...

**Yeah, ok, I'm bored!**

* * *

I guess I owe Kakashi. He managed to distract Naruto and company long enough for me to sneak off. I guess he sensed that it was something I wasn't comfortable talking about.

First stop, flower shop. I browsed through the wide array of plants. It was amazing how many there were. I came across some really nice roses. I reached forward to grab one so I could smell it. I placed my thumb over a thorn.

"Oww" I muttered. I pulled my hand away and sucked on my thumb. I only did it because it hurt, but I got a few odd looks. Eventually I picked out some flowers. They were petunia's, my mother's favorite.

My next stop: Graveyard. I knelt in front of the tombstone slowly. You remember the wall I had built up? Yeah, well, this was denting it majorly.

"Hey mom" I murmured, placing the petunia's down in front of the grave. "How are dad and little bro doing?" I asked. I saw nothing wrong with talking to a tombstone. In a weird way it felt good, like I was, in an odd way, connecting with them again.

"I hope you're all doing okay, I'm fine, just in case you're wondering" I said. I gently ran a finger over the engravings.

I felt sad, but it was a happy sad.

"I miss you guys" I muttered. Ok, saying that just made me feel a little sadder. I'll survive.

I talked a little more about how my life was going. I had an odd feeling she could hear me, but that may just be the crazy in me talking.

"I suppose I should go" I said slowly. I had an hour left, and I thought that I may be able to go get some shopping done.

I stood up, brushing off my knees. They still had a bit of dirt left on them. "Oh, joy, stains" I muttered as I left.

I wandered around, looking for a book store. Seeing as how I owed Kakashi I might as well replace the book.

I passed an electronics store, and in the store I saw Naruto playing Guitar Hero in the window. He looked seriously into it.

I found the book store and the book easy-peesy. Although, it was in the mature section. I frowned as I examined the cover. What made it so bad? I made the mistake of opening it.

"OH MY GOD!" I cried, throwing the book against the dirt road. A few passerbys eyed me curiously.

That was one of the most scarring things I've ever seen.

I made a mental note to slap him for being a pervert.

I picked up the book and examined it. It wasn't all that bad, it was just covered in a little bit of dirt and the bottom edge folded up slightly.

I didn't bother to clean it up, I just shoved it into my purse.

I pulled out my camera and went back to the electronics store. Naruto was still there.

I quickly took a few pictures and ran off, laughing evilly. I never said I was being sneaky.

I felt a grin growing on my face as I walked past places I remembered from my childhood.

I made contact with something hard and cold and fell to the ground.

I looked up, ah, it was my old nemesis: The lamp post. I furrowed my brow and gave the lamp-post a death glare.

"Don't kill anything now" A voice from behind me warned lightly. I lay back against the cement so I could see who was talking to me.

"Hey Kakashi" I said, waving. He leaned over me, his eye twinkling in amusement.

"Most ninja's don't get caught off guard by lamp posts" He teased.

"Most ninja's don't read perverted mangas" I retorted, pulling out the book and waving it around. Remember, I was still lying on the ground, so it was a lot harder to get something out of my purse.

Kakashi snatched it from my hand much like Naruto grabbing ramen.

"You'd be surprised" He said calmly

. "What happen to it?" Kakashi asked, eyeing a dirt mark on the cover.

I chuckled nervously. "Well, you see, I tried reading it.." I stopped there, assuming he understood.

Kakashi nodded and laughed slightly. He extended a hand to help me up, which really wouldn't have worked, because he was by my head.

I got up by myself.

"To the coffee shop!" I exclaimed, starting to march forward. Kakashi placed a hand on my shoulder. I stopped moving forward and marched on the spot, waiting for him to talk.

"It's right there" Kakashi pointed out, turning me towards the coffee shop.

I marched in, grinning like a maniac in response to some weird glances.

Twenty minutes later we were seated and drinking coffee. Ok, Kakashi had coffee, I had a water bottle.

Kakashi pulled out the folder. I swear, it's either murder or perverted-ness with him.

"You know, you really should make a copy of those" I said, nodding at the folder.

"Why?" Kakashi asked, not looking up. Somehow he had managed to drink half of his coffee without me noticing.

"You could lose it" I explained.

"Akiko, that's something only you would do" Kakashi commented. I pouted slightly.

I wouldn't lose something that important! Actually, I might.

"Is that coffee good?" I asked, changing the subject.

"You can't have any" Kakashi said. Darn, he caught on.

"Why not?" I whined.

"The last thing you need is caffeine" Kakashi pointed out. I stuck my tongue like a young child.

"Look!" I cried, "Mickey Mouse!"

Kakashi stared at me blankly. "Nice try."

I shot my hand out, grabbing the cup before Kakashi caught on.

I took a long sip of the black liquid. As I slammed the drink back down to the table I gagged a little. It was hot and it was bitter.

I swallowed whatever I could and choked on the rest.

Kakashi took back the cup and examined it.

"Well, you drank my coffee" He commented. Kakashi left the table and back to the counter.

I glanced back down at the table, not in guilt, in boredom. He had left the folder there.

I pulled out my camera and took a few quick pictures of the notes and pictures. I wasn't planning on using them, but, still, I hoped Kakashi would lose them so I could make him seem like an idiot.

"Did you buy anything" A girly voice asked. I looked up.

"Oh, hello Sakura" I greeted, "No, I didn't buy anything. What'd you get?" I asked, nodding towards the bags in her hands.

"Clothes" She replied. I smiled slightly. Go figure.

Naruto came next, flexing his fingers. Too much Guitar Hero I guess.

I considered asking him, but, he most likely wouldn't like it if I said I saw him.

"We all here?" Kakashi asked, walking back from the counter.

"Sasuke's not" Sakura said. She sounded worried. We waited for Sasuke impatiently.

He came a minute late. I had a odd feeling he had just waited on the corner until he was technically late.

"You're such a rebel" I teased as he approached.

"Can we get this show on the road now?" Kakashi asked.

"Sure" I agreed, nodding cheerfully.

Kakashi took the folder and we went to the ice cream shop.

There really isn't much to say, we got the blueprints, Naruto complained about how he wanted ramen, and Sakura punched him.

After that we were on our way home.

**We're almost at the single point I based this story off of. I'll tell you when I get there, but, until then, most of it is really losely planned.**

**Sheesh, I'm tired, but that's most likely because I stay up so late and type.**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	13. Ice Cream Rival

**Well, lookie here, a new chappie. Kyeh keh keh...ACHOO! Right, before I babble like a moron, read onward, and then, review.**

* * *

Sheesh, walking was the most boring thing ever. Especially when everyone you're walking with refuses to talk. I was very tempted to strangle someone, just to see if anyone else would care.

"Will someone say something?!" I shouted in exasperation. Boredom and silence make a very stressful mix.

"I think you covered that" Kakashi commented. He still sounded tired.

"How much sleep did you get?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Less then you" replied Kakashi. I could feel a twitch to rival all twitches coming on. Seriously, he was supposed to be the team leader, he should be more responsible. Being responsible was not in my job description!

I clenched my fist tightly, then, raising it, brought it down hard on his arm. I couldn't reach his head okay?!

"What was that for?" Kakashi asked, rubbing his arm. Sasuke looked like he was going to go in shock.

Yeah, that's right, I just hit your teacher. Naruto stifled a grin, and Sakura looked almost as shocked as Sasuke.

"Dumb-ass" I snapped, "Seeing as you're the leader you shouldn't be the one that's half-asleep."

Kakashi furrowed his brow (Well, what I could see of it).

"That may be so" He said, sounding thoughtful.

"It is so" I said. Man, I sounded angrier than I actually was.

Kakashi tensed. "Be quiet" he said softly.

"What if I don't wanna be quiet?" I demanded loudly.

Of course Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were all quiet. Because, well, they were supposed to listen to him.

Kakashi narrowed his eye. "Just shut up!" He hissed.

"No!" I said childishly. The next thing I knew there was a gloved hand clamped tightly over my mouth.

"That's better" Kakashi said, looking around warily. I glared at the three younger ninjas. You know what, screw it, I was ticked. I opened my mouth and licked his hand. Oh, yeah, I'm sure someone made an 'Eew' face, well, that's just how it is.

I could feel Kakashi pull his hand away slightly, but then clamp it tightly back.

"Get down!" Kakashi yelled. Everyone obliged, because, well, who wouldn't when a kunai was flying at you.

I rolled away from Kakashi, glad to final have his hand off my mouth.

I grabbed my sword hilt, preparing to unsheathe it.

Kakashi stood calmly, hands in pockets. How did he always manage to look so cool. Even Sasuke looked calm.

A man stepped into our line of sight.

"Hand me the papers" He demanded, holding out a hand, He had a thick accent that made me giggle.

"What's so funny?" He demanded. I giggled harder.

Kakashi ignored me. "You're not getting what you came for" Kakashi stated in his normal, monotone voice.

Another kunai went flying by, but, since Kakashi was Kakashi, he ducked and it missed.

That was all I needed, I unsheathed my sword.

"Protect the blueprints!" I cried. I told Naruto about the ice cream, but, no, he didn't believe me. Proof right here!

Kakashi waited patiently for the the attacker to attack. We all know Kakashi is to much of a gentleman to attack first.

The man threw a punch at Kakashi, which he neatly blocked with his palm.

Kakashi kicked the man's legs out from under him. The man rolled to safety. Judging by the way he was standing I could've sworn evil laughter would've came along at some point.

Alas, no such thing; He lunged at Kakashi, hands outstretched like he was going to throttle him.

Kakashi ducked, causing the man to go flying over his head. The man landed in a crouching position and skidded to a stop.

I backed up a little to talk to Sasuke.

"He's moving more sluggishly than normal" Sasuke commented.

"Yeah, but that's what lack of sleep does" I agreed, "Hey, you guys ready?"

Sasuke nodded, catching my drift. Sakura looked puzzled.

"Ready for what?" She asked.

"An attack" Sasuke said.

"What?" Naruto asked, sounding surprised.

"Look, Kakashi didn't get much sleep, so we shouldn't expect him to be brilliant in a fight today" I explained, watching as Kakashi narrowly managed to dodge a punch.

"Do you really think it's affecting that badly?" Sakura asked timidly.

I shrugged, "I'm sure he could do fine, but I'd rather not risk it."

Naruto took a fighting stance. "I'm ready! Believe it!" He cried.

Sasuke followed the motion, but was silent.

Sakura nodded meekly.

I tightened my grip on the sword hilt. Kakashi back-flipped away from a punch. I could've started cheering him on, because well, screaming seemed like fun.

The folder that he always had with him fell out of his pocket.

Well, this could be bad.

I ran forward, followed by Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura.

Kakashi made a dive towards the folder, the man did the same.

Naruto pulled out a few kunai and took aim.

I sighed, I knew Naruto was going to take a while.

I launched myself at the man, arms outstreached so I could shove him if I had to.

Naruto threw his kunai as I took off.

I loved jumping like this, in an odd way it felt like I was flying, and it was a nice sensation.

I felt a sudden pang in my arm. I tumbled to the ground in surprise.

I sat up and glanced down at my arm.

A kunai was stuck into my arm and blood was slowly dripping out. Thankfully blood had no affect on me.

It was still at the point where the pain had yet to hit me.

The man had grabbed the folder and Kakashi was fighting a valiant struggle to get it back. Damn ice cream rivals, those weren't even the blueprints.

I waited for the pain, because, well, I really had nothing else to do. Actually, plotting to kill Naruto was high on my list of things to do.

"Damn it Naruto, I'm going to kill you!" I screamed as the pain finally sank in. It felt like my arm was on fire. I inhaled deeply. Alright, first things first, get the darned thing out of my arm. I gripped the handle tightly.

Breath Akiko, I reminded myself, just like a band-aid.

Albeit a pointy, deadly, one, but all the same.

I pulled it out quickly, letting out a panicked scream.

Kakashi cast a semi-concerned glance at me. Big mistake.

The man pulled the folder away sharply and ran back into the trees. Kakashi swore quietly and followed him.

I winced, fighting back tears as I covered the wound with my hand. I had to stop the bleeding somehow.

Sakura rushed over."Akiko-sensei! Are you okay?" She asked, pulling a first aid kid from her back-pack. She brought a first aid kit, smart kid.

"Well, granted Naruto _stabbed _me" I snapped, sending a glare at Naruto, who looked down sheepishly.

Sakura pulled out antiseptic. She knelt down beside me.

I held out my arm obediently, cringing. I really hated that you had to clean the wound, but, seeing as how it getting infected sounded rather painful, I chose to just go along with it. She dabbed the wound patiently. I glanced around, doing a quick head count.

Naruto was there, looking guilty.

Sakura was obviously there.

Sasuke was lying on the ground, looking up at the sky in boredom.

Kakashi was out chasing the man that had stolen the folder. Those pictures could come in handy I suppose.

Sakura wrapped gauze around my tightly. So, basically, it was either I bleed or I lose circulation.

I didn't like either, but, not bleeding sounded nice.

"Sakura, you've gotten really good with handling blood" Naruto commented. Aw, the little bastard had a crush.

Yeah, okay, I was more than a little ticked. But he friggen' stabbed me.

Sakura blushed. Ah, young love.

Kakashi walked into my line of view.

"No one dying?" He asked.

"No" Sakura replied, before I could even make a snappy comment about Naruto.

Kakashi glanced at me. "No 'I'm going to die' rant?" Kakashi asked, sounding mildly surprised.

"No" I said calmly, "I've seen my fair share of blood and wounds."

Naruto gazed down at me, his eyes as wide as dinner plates.

I supposed that if there ever was a camping trip I would the one telling the fire-side story.

Sakura stood up, brushing her hands together like she had accomplished a great feat.

"Just don't use your arm much and you'll be fine" She advised. I nodded in thanks and stood up.

For a fangirl she could be pretty dang useful.

I flexed my fingers, just to make sure I could still use them. It hurt a little, but they moved.

I walked beside Kakashi silently, rummaging through my bag.

Eventually my fingers wrapped around the camera.

"Here" I said quietly, passing it to him. He examined the camera carefully, unaware of what I wanted him to do with it.

"Check the pictures" I advised. He pressed the photo display button warily. I could see why he would be afraid, seeing as how I was being quiet about it. He skimmed through all the pictures of the folder contents before turning to me.

"You actually took pictures?" He asked, sounding angry.

"Yeah" I replied.

"Oh, and what exactly were you going to use them for?" He demanded.

"Nothing bad!" I insisted.

Kakashi glared at me.

"Why should I believe that?" Kakashi asked. His tone was pretty much shaking with anger.

"Well, I was saving them in case something like this happened, and, since it did, you can have them" I snapped, "But I want the camera back."

Kakashi pocketed the camera and walked ahead of me.

I felt a little bad. After all, I should've asked first, but it was a little too late to ask.

After a few more moments of painstaking silence I ran up to walk with Kakashi again.

"Sorry" I muttered awkwardly.

"You gave in that awkwardly" Kakashi said with a small laugh.

"Am I forgiven or not?" I demanded.

Okay, so I wasn't all that into the fighting thing, and, well, I didn't like people being mad at me.

Oh, I was mad at people all the time, I just didn't like them being mad at me.

"Seeing as how you let me have the camera, sure" Kakashi agreed.

I grinned like a mental escapee and clapped my hands.

"You know what this calls for?" I asked loud enough for the others to hear.

"Ramen?" Naruto asked.

I shook my head, "No! A sing-a-long!"

Everyone groaned as I burst into a round of song.

**Yeah, so the fight wasn't really drawn out, so sue me! Gosh darn it I'm tired, oh well, I have other things to do **

**-cough- nap -cough-**

**So, yeah. For those that are wondering, this fic could be going for a while, because, although I know where I'm going, I managed to pull a Kakashi and 'Get lost on the road of life'.**

**R&R With a anbu mask on top.**

**- Y.A.O.G**


	14. History Of Ramen

**Hah. Fast update on my part..yay. Uh, well, I actually looked up some crap in this, being bored is a major curse on my part.**

* * *

With the mission over, I could finally relax. Yeah, sure, I was relaxing in the middle of a road with Naoki and a tea set, but, other than that, it was fine.

"So, you got any news on what's new in Konoha?" I asked, taking a sip of my tea. My tea wasn't even tea, it was an energy drink.

Naoki hated tea, so this seemed like a nice substitute for it.

"Well, there's going to be some big party in two weeks" She said thoughtfully.

"Party?" I asked. Why does no one ever tell me these things?

Naoki nodded. "Yeah, there's going to be a Guitar Hero tournament and a Dance Dance Revelution thing" She explained.

Hm, video games, sounds like fun.

"We'll be in need of a new outfit" I mused.

"And shoes" Naoki added. I nodded in agreement. A shopping spree was in order.

"Do you hear that?" Naoki asked, crinkling her nose in confusion.

I closed my eyes and listened for a moment.

It sounded like….horses. I opened my eyes and looked around.

"Oh, crap" I muttered. Two horses were galloping towards us, and the driver showed no sign of slowing.

Naoki turned around to follow my gaze. "Crap indeed" She agreed.

I winced as the horses drew closer. This one could hurt. The horses thundered closer.

Before they could hit us someone rushed over, scooped the both of us up and rushed to the other side of the street.

I glanced up at our savior. It was Kakashi.

"My hero!" I gushed as he placed me down on the road. Naoki stood up by herself, a look of angry agony plastered on her face.

"You bastard, that was my tea set" Naoki said threatingly.

I raised both my arms in a peacekeeping motion. Ouch, I really gotta stop using my left arm.

"So, dare I ask why you were having a tea party in the middle of the street?" Kakashi inquired, giving me a weird look.

"Why not" I replied shrugging. In states of boredom I have been very prone to doing odd things.

"I feel like giving someone a hug" I said suddenly. Kakashi shook his head, and Naoki just grinned.

This, my friends, is why I should never go near energy drinks. I looked between the two of them.

Kakashi was the closest, so Kakashi it was. I threw my arms around his neck and nuzzled my head against his collarbone.

"What'd you have to drink?" Kakashi asked calmly, prying my arm's from around his neck.

I giggled like a mental case.

"Only a teensy bit of an energy drink" I giggled. The energy drink was making my tummy feel funny, and I had a headache, but nothing to odd.

"God, I'd hate to see you with alcohol" Kakashi commented.

"Actually, it's not that bad," Naoki said, grinning brightly.

"Hey, Kakashi, we were about to go shopping, would you like to come with?" I asked sweetly.

"Not really, no" Kakashi replied. Oh, come on, why would you not like to go shopping?

"Please" I begged.

"Why?" Kakashi asked. He didn't say no, which meant he was giving in.

"The party in two weeks" Naoki explained.

Kakashi looked at us blankly.

"You weren't planning on wearing something off the rack, were you?" I asked, astounded.

"I wasn't planning on going at all," Kakashi said.

Lazy twit, if there's a party, you go to it.

"You will come" Naoki and I said, making our tone's menacing.

Kakashi chuckled nervously. "What if I say no?" He asked.

I giggled. "I have duct tape, and I will not hesitate to use it." Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Fine, as long as you stay away from any alcoholic beverages."

I nodded. I can do that.

"You owe me a new tea set" Naoki reminded.

I rolled my eyes. Of course, until she got a new tea set she wasn't going to let it go.

I patted Kakashi's shoulder.

"You are allowed to bring one person to suffer with you," I said wisely.

Kakashi stroked his chin thoughtfully. I was starting to think he only did those odd things for my sake.

"Iruka" He decided.

"I'll go track him down!" Naoki exclaimed. Naoki turned on her heel and ran off, leaving Kakashi and me in her dust.

"Is she always like that?" He asked me, scratching the back of his head.

I nodded, "Yeah, unless she has to be serious."

"Really?" Kakashi asked. He sounded mildly surprised.

"Well, normally only at funerals" I said sadly.

I drummed my fingers against my leg. I hated awkward silence.

"How's your arm doing?" He asked, staring up at the sky.

"Sore, but healing" I replied, touching said wound.

"That's good," Kakashi said.

"You know what?" I asked loudly.

"What?"

"I hate these awkward silences!" I exclaimed.

Kakashi laughed.

"That sounds like something you would hate."

I paused, pursing my lips as I thought of a conversation topic.

"Have you ever wanted to dress up as a leprechaun?" I asked. Maybe I was a little too loud; I got a few odd looks.

"No" Kakashi paused, then turned to give me an odd look, "Have you?"

"Surprisingly, no" I said, laughing a little.

"Your friend isn't going to come back, is she?" Kakashi asked, peering out around the road, looking for either Iruka or Naoki.

"You're right" I agreed. Naoki either got lost, or decided to leave us alone. I couldn't decide.

"I still need a new dress" I commented. I heard Kakashi sigh.

"Do you want me to escort you?" He asked, sounding like he really didn't want to go.

"You got any better ideas?" I asked.

"I have a massive doughnut craving" Kakashi mused.

"Oh no!" I gasped, "You becoming a stereotypical cop!" My worst nightmare would be working for someone who ate doughnuts and coffee all the time.

"Well, this isn't good" Kakashi agreed, a merry twinkle in his eye.

My tummy felt funny again, but I was most likely hungry. I patted my stomach. "I need food, but not doughnuts."

"Any idea of where to go?" Kakashi asked, scanning the area.

"How bout that new meat place" I suggested.

"You mean the one with all you can eat ribs?" Kakashi inquired. I nodded eagerly.

I loved ribs they were so yummy.

Judging by the way that Kakashi was staring blankly ahead I was starting to get an odd feeling that he was feeling guilty about the whole losing the case file thing.

I tentatively touched his arm, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Sheesh, what happened happened, so just stop moping about what you could have done to stop it" I said, sounding exasperated.

Kakashi blinked. He looked like he was having a hard time trying to figure out what I meant. Eventually he looked like he had cracked the code that was my not-so-subtle message.

"Still though, who knows what he could be using it for" Kakashi said, sounding rather depressed.

I noticed my hand on his arm and sharply pulled it back, accidentally punching myself in the face. I fell over from the surprise impact.

"You sure know how to ruin a moment" Kakashi commented, holding out a hand to help me up. I took it, hauling myself off the ground.

"Yeah, it's a talent. Oh, and besides, this just gives you more of an incentive to hurry up. And who knows, maybe he had something to do with it" I said, the words coming out a little faster than intended.

Kakashi looked thoughtful. "Maybe" His gaze became serious as he looked at me.

"Since when were you actually able to make sense?" He asked.

"Since before ramen was invented" I said, nodding sagely.

"Who invented ramen anyway?" Kakashi asked, furrowing his brow.

I shrugged. "I dunno, shall we look it up?" I asked brightly.

One of my philosophies: If you're depressed do random things to keep you distracted.

"How?" Kakashi asked.

I smirked, feeling rather awesome.

There was a book called 'The History of Ramen' at the library.

I grabbed Kakashi's wrist (Because grabbing his hand would just be weird) and dragged him along with me.

_**Time Skip**_

Kakashi peered over my shoulder, reading the book with me.

It was a three page in the kids' section, but, none the less, we decided to read it.

I skimmed over the words, losing interest almost right away.

"What a boring book" Kakashi commented, taking the book from my hands and placing it back on the shelf.

"That was a rather large waste of time" I muttered. Jeez, if you ever want to read something dull, go read about the history of ramen. They never even mentioned who invented the stuff

_"'Ko? Ya there?"_ Naoki's voice entered my mind.

_"What kinda question is that?"_ I thought back.

_"Get Kakashi and bring him down here now" _Naoki's voice snapped.

"Where the hell are you?" I asked aloud. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, and I held up a hand to silence him.

Apparently Naoki heard.

_"Near your place, about three houses down. You'd better get down here fast, there's been another murder."_

* * *

**Egad, a cliffhanger. This shall be my last update until school starts...well maybe. **

**I'm tired, so this is goodbye.**

**- Y.A.O.G**

**P.S Really, google the history of ramen, it is the most boring thing since -enter some crude sci-fi reference here-**


	15. Cottage Cheese

**Fifteenth Chapter is up! Yay! Sorry this took so long, it's finally nice enough to go outside so I went into the outside world..a sad mistake on my part, I hit myself in the face, almost got hit by a car in the city, and almost fell asleep on the trampoline. Well, aside from my dangerous experiences, anyone actually read the history of ramen? Boring, isn't it? Well, read the chapter.**

* * *

"Where are we going exactly?" Kakashi asked, running alongside me. His spiked hair was blowing backwards a little, I think he used a little too much hair-gel.

"There was another murder" I explained, running ahead of him I could be active if I wanted, normally it was just not in my interest.

"How exactly do you know that?" Kakashi inquired.

I raised a hand to silence him. "I'll explain later," I said, turning sharply around a corner.

Our feet pounded against the concrete in a fast-paced, intense beat. When we finally arrived I almost bowled over Naoki and two police officers.

"Alright…..what….happened?" I panted, resting my hands on my knees as I leaned forward.

"I'm sorry, but we can't talk to you ma'am" The cop apologized.

I recognized him as the cop from the scene before. I rolled my eyes. Yeah, whatever, I'll just wait for Kakashi to say something.

"She-"

Kakashi stopped after noticing Naoki's glare.

"They're" he corrected, causing Naoki to smirk, "With me, so, would you mind letting us in to take a look around?"

The cop seemed surprised to seem him in this area of town, although I can't see why. Kakashi did live only a few blocks away.

"Well, erm, uh, sure….I suppose" He stammered, lifting up the police tape.

We ducked under. I glanced between my two companions.

Naoki looked oddly solemn for once, and Kakashi just looked bored, but maybe a little concerned. I was fairly certain my expression was mainly concern.

After all, these were my neighbors. actually might have known them, I could never remember which house they lived in, but my uncle invited people over frequently.

"You sure you can handle this?" Kakashi asked, glancing between the two of us.

I smirked bravely. "I think I can stomach it, and, if not, Naoki over here is a great barf bag" I said lightly.

I had a heavy feeling in my stomach, basically my nerves. How gory would it be? Naoki glared at me.

"If you can't stomach it, just don't come in" Naoki snapped

. Well, apparently I was the only one who seemed like the type to be haunted by it.

"I'll be fine" I reassured. I wished they would hurry up and just go into the house. I had an odd feeling the longer I was outside the worse it was going to be when we got in.

Kakashi shrugged, "Suit yourself."

With Kakashi's permission we walked over to the door. It was a white door, and it didn't look like it had been forced.

Oh well, maybe they hid their key in a really obvious place, you know, like under the invisible doormat.

Naoki was the one who gathered the courage to open the door.

"Ladies first" She said jokingly, although her air of seriousness was still there.

Kakashi rolled his eye in a sarcastic manner. I followed him in, feeling rather proud that I was in the 'ladies' category.

That little feeling of pride I had was whisked away the moment I entered the house. There was that ominous presence of death that made everything more depressing. I couldn't see the bodies for they were covered with sheets. That was most likely a good thing. Although the bodies were not in sight, the blood most definitely was. It was splattered around the general area of the bodies. There was some blood smears on the counter, in the general direction of the phone. So, someone had been trying to call for help. I knelt down near one of the bodies. I crinkled my nose up in disgust.

I'm fairly confident that most people haven't smelt dead bodies, so, let me tell you: You really don't want to. It was worse than wet dog on a sunny day. It was more like wet, decaying dog on a sunny day, only worse.

So, being brave, a pulled away the edge of the sheet a little. A lump stuck in my throat. I recognized that face. The blond hair, the pronounced cheekbones, everything. She was Eva, a member of the family my uncle invited over at least once a week.

She had been a nice enough person. Nice enough that I didn't feel like crying, I felt more like punching the hell outta whoever did this.

I glanced up at Kakashi. He looked like he was pondering something important.

"Hey, Kakashi" I began, completely unsure of where I was going with this.

He looked at me. "Yes?" He asked in his normal, semi-amused semi-bored voice.

I inhaled deeply, using it as a distraction to think about what I was going to say.

"I wasn't all to serious about helping out with this before, after this however, I'm determined to do something" I stated grim-faced.

Kakashi didn't seem at all startled.

"You can help by checking for anything out of the ordinary" Kakashi said. I nodded and began searching.

Naoki went straight to the fridge and began rummaging through the contents.

"I found cottage cheese!" Naoki cried, pulling out a can of cottage cheese and waving it around like she had won the lottery and it was winning ticket.

"He said odd," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I said odd," Kakashi said at the exact same time.

Well, that scared me a little. If Kakashi and I could have a synch moment, the world was a weirder place.

"It is odd!" Naoki insisted, "Who would buy cottage cheese?" I smiled and shook my head. At least she was trying to lighten the moment.

After quite a bit of searching I noticed something.

There was something red scribbled on the wall. I first thought it was blood, but turns out it was just red pen. As much as I squinted I couldn't read it.

"Hey Kakashi" I called, beckoning him over. Kakashi walked over and crouched down next to me.

"Pallens intereo primoris" He read. I noticed how his face paled a little.

Had he seen it before? I made a mental note of that. Chances are I'd still forget it.

The next thing I knew Kakashi had a cop over where the writing was and had somehow forced Naoki and I out.

"I wanted to stay longer" Naoki whined.

We were standing on the sidewalk outside the house and the sun was just starting to set, casting shadows on the ground.

"It smelled funny" I moaned.

Kakashi shook his head and rolled his eyes, the spikes of his hair swaying back and forth.

"Anyone wanna go clubbing?" Naoki asked suddenly.

"No" Kakashi and I said in unison. Woah, twice in one day, something had to be off. Maybe it was that energy drink…which apparently was wearing off.

Naoki grinned brightly. "Good, neither do I."

I yawned, stretching my arms out towards the sky.

"Tired?" Kakashi asked. He didn't seem to be all that surprised. But, I wouldn't be either, granted that he knew I had an energy drink before.

"Only a little" I admitted. I probably should've been shaken up by this ordeal, and, in truth, I was. Smiling was my way of dealing with it.

I needed to something random, like a nap. I glanced over my shoulder quickly. My house was only a few houses down; I could always go take a nap.

"You should probably go tell your uncle" Naoki said suddenly.

I nodded in agreement. If we didn't break the news to him soon he was going to see over the news, and I knew for a fact that a camera had caught me leaving the house.

"You two have fun with that, I'm going to stick around for a bit," Kakashi said. He turned around and, flicking his hand back in a wave went back into the house.

"I think he just ditched us" I commented in mock disbelief.

Naoki nodded, "Yeah, and for dead people too."

"Oh well" I said with a sigh.

Naoki looked at me with a expression that read "I want to tell something but you're gonna spaz at me."

I realized suddenly what exactly she meant.

"You read his mind" I accused loudly.

Maybe that was a mistake. It looked like some people had overheard.

Naoki grinned sheepishly. "I couldn't help it" She said, "He looked like an interesting person."

"So you decided to read his mind?" I clarified.

Naoki nodded. "Yeah, and let me tell, there's some pretty serious crap in there." Naoki no longer seemed the tiniest bit ashamed, maybe she had found out some awesome crap.

A part of me wanted to hear, but that another, sane and nice part decided to respect his personal space.

"Don't tell me," I said, placing my hands in the air in a silent protest.

"You don't want to know?" Naoki asked, incredulous.

"Well, a little," I admitted, "But my sanity has decided that I should be respectful."

Naoki nodded in an understanding manner. I'm not sure what was weirder, the fact that I referred to my sanity like it was a separate person, or the fact that Naoki understood what I was talking about.

"Stupid sanity" Naoki and I muttered.

I grinned in a sly manner.

"You doing anything tomorrow?" I asked.

Naoki pursed her lips. "Well, I have work off" She said.

Speaking of which, I had no idea what she did for a living, whenever I asked she told me it was a secret.

"Wanna go shopping?" I asked.

"Sure, we can get some wicked outfits for the party" Naoki agreed, nodding eagerly. Somehow, that statement scared me a little. Wicked could be translated in many ways, and I was never too sure with Naoki.

"And fuzzy socks" I added.

"Yes, and fuzzy socks" Naoki promised. I smiled, the promise of fuzzy socks was comforting.

"Well, if that's all, I am going to go talk to my uncle and take a nap" I said, nodding curtly.

"Have fun!" Naoki said.

I scoffed, "As if."

And, with our goodbyes completed, we both turned and went our own ways. Naoki off to do whatever it was she did in her spare time, and me, off to nap and talk to my uncle.

* * *

**Hehe...murders, fun fun. I've been watching a lot of CSI stuff lately, so I may seem like I know what I'm chatting about, but I'm not, I'm merely copying crap from CSI. **

**Other than that...meh, I'm bored.**

**R&R and enjoy the spring weather!**


	16. Mayhem and Madness

**Yeah, so I haven't updated, so sue me. No, wait, someone actually might..erm, bite me. There, that's better. **

**I blame spring, if it wasn't so nice out (Well, not today, snow and freezing rain, ugh) I would be inside writing. Don't worry though, I have the next chapter already mapped out, and I'm going to type as soon as I can.**

**Read, enjoy, review.**

* * *

Breaking the news to my uncle was the easy part, surviving the random, pointless rant he gave me afterwards was the hard part. He was droning on and on about how this was dangerous and I shouldn't take part in it. I'm a ninja, a ninja who uses a friggen' sword. Sadly, that wasn't a convincing point for him.

"I don't care how much of a ninja you are" He fumed, "The point is you could get hurt."

I sighed in exashperation. This was the problem with my uncle, as sad as he was, he was still going to get mad at me for being involved. "I can take care of myself" I insisted.

"Are you sure that taking the job with Hatake was the best idea?" He asked, peering at me intently. I almost flinced under the gaze, it was scary. His brow was pursed, his eyes were focused on me, and he had an odd semblance to Gai again.

"I'm not quitting" I said stubbornly. I wasn't going back to being a substitute, some of the kids were just evil little buggers.

"Why?" My uncle asked, seemingly not as angry anymore. I blinked, surprised by the sudden non-angry-ness of my uncle's tone.

"Well, the pay isn't bad, and I like the work" I explained, still feeling a little stunned.

"Oh" My uncle seemed disappointed for some reason. What other reason was he going to look for?

"I'm going to go to bed" I said dismissively, turning to go up the stairs to my room.

My eyelids were feeling heavy and I was almost content with sleeping on the stairs, until I remembered that I was going shopping the next day. Luckily for me, Kakashi had given all of us a few days off thanks to your mission.

I reached my room, flopped down on the bed, and closed my eyes. It was still bothering me about why my uncle had seemed so disappointed. I had a feeling I would never figure it out, but it was still fun to guess. Maybe he had wanted me to be a circus performer, of join ANBU. I had nothing against joining ANBU, I though the masks they're rather awesome, however being a circus performer, well I would rather kiss Kakashi before becoming a circus performer. I drifted off to sleep eventually, hoping I could find my wallet.

Time skip

"'Ko! Wake up! Your friend is here!" My uncle's voice rang up the stairs and rebounded through the walls of my room.

I mumbled something that could only be considered as gibberish before sitting up.

I checked the clock. Ten o'clock a.m. I groaned, only Naoki would stop by before noon. Well, maybe, I wasn't sure.

It was to early for me to me thinking like the normally semi-sane person I was.

"Send 'er up" I called down groggily. I stood up and swayed slightly. I placed a hand to my head, covering one eye. Oh how I despised mornings.

I was still light-headed as I staggered drunkenly over to my dresser and began rummaging through it for some clothes other than what I wore the day before. Of course I had been too lazy to change the day before.

"You are aware you look drunk in the morning?" A male voice asked.

"Morning" I greeted before realizing the person wasn't a girl. Or Naoki for that matter.

I wheeled around before staggering a little. I have to admit I was surprised to see Iruka standing there.

"Whatcha doing here?" I asked suspiciously.

"Naoki sent me, she claimed that she wasn't entering the area" Iruka explained, smiling. "Nice hair."

I scowled at him. It wasn't my fault I was a bedhead.

"Out" I commanded, pointing at the door. Iruka left obediently. The scowl remained on my face as I searched through my closet and dresser for clothing.

Eventually I settled with a black pair of yoga pants (Most comfortable kind of shorts, ever), a light green T-shirt, and a beige overcoat-ish thing that went down just a little than the yoga shorts. I left my room, running my fingers through my knotted hair. I was too lazy to find a brush, so this seemed like the best substitute.

Iruka was waiting in the kitchen, looking cheerful. My uncle was awake but most likely off contacting the family of our neighbors. I supposed I was the only non-morning person going out on this little excursion.

"Do you have your wallet?" Iruka asked, raising an eyebrow. I was notoriously famous for forgetting my wallet and having to borrow other people's money. I nodded, but then stopped myself mid head-bob. I quickly switched my nod to a headshake.

rushed back up the stairs, found my wallet, and ran back down the stairs. I almost fell on the last step, but I caught myself.

"Is there money in it?" Iruka asked, still grinning.

"Of course" I scoffed. How much of an idiot did he take me for? Then again, this is me we're talking about. I waited until Iruka's back was facing me, then I opened my wallet and found a few crisp bills and some change.

Naoki was standing in front of the house, in the middle of the road. We headed down to the stores and went around, dragging poor Iruka along on our shopping escapade. I didn't go into many shops until the promise of fuzzy socks tempted me in.

After I had bought three pairs I was ready for looking for an outfit. I browsed through a lot of racks, hoping to find a dress that I could actually move in. I fully planned on competing in the DDR tournament, so I had to be flexible.

Iruka had picked out what he was wearing in the first store we had visited, so that left only Naoki and I.

"Akiko-sensei?!" A voice asked from behind me, "You're shopping to?"

I wheeled around to find Sakura and Hinata staring at me. Why Sakura had decided to drag Hinata along shopping was beyond me.

"Well, yeah, I have no reason _not _to be shopping" I said with a simple shrug.

"Let's shop together?" Hinata suggested.

I nodded. "Sure, you're both going to need some shmancy dresses for this shin-dig" I commented. Why I decided to use funny words, I don't know, but the look on their faces was really funny. It was that classic expression of confusion and 'I can't believe I know this person'.

Ah, priceless.

"Seriously though" I said, straightening my expression. "You're going to want something that'll impress Naruto," I said, directing the comment to both of the younger girls.

Hinata flushed and Sakura twitched.

Awesome! Embarrassing and irking two girls with the same comment. Score one for me.

"N-no way!" Sakura snapped. I smirked.

"Sasuke then?" I inquired sweetly. Sakura was blushing almost as badly as Hinata.

"H-how about you a-and Kakashi?" Sakura asked quickly, stammering as she made up the comeback

. Luckily, I was feeling rather cool and had about a million awesome comebacks.

"Who wouldn't want to impress that beast?" I retorted. I felt rather awesome about myself.

Awesome, that was, until I realized I had called Kakashi a beast, in a good way. There was a rather awkward silence as all three of us felt a tad odd with the calling Kakashi a beast.

"Shopping?" I asked, grinning slightly.

They both nodded and spread out through the store.

Naoki picked out a black dress with white polka dots scattered around. I settled with a black dress with a flared skirt and an ornate, silver flower design reaching up the side. Sakura picked a pink dress with straps the met at the back of the neck. Hinata, well, we had to pick for her, but she ended up with a nice, deep blue dress with thin straps. It wasn't special, but it suited her.

"I'm hun-gry" I moaned as we emerged into the daylight.

Iruka, who was waiting outside that entire time, laughed. He extended a bag filled of an unknown substance.

"I though you would be." I snatched the bag from his hands and opened it.

The sweet, fresh, aroma filled my nose. Ah, the sweet, joyous smells of doughnuts.

I quickly devoured two, then gave them to everyone else.

"I'd hate to be stranded with you on an island" Naoki quipped.

I smiled a little. "I have to agree with you."

The last person I'd want to be stranded on an island is myself.

"Hey, Kakashi!" Iruka called suddenly, gesturing towards our little group.

I scanned the crowd, looking for the signature gray hair that would be Kakashi. I spotted an old lady, who most likely wasn't Kakashi. Unless he was in disguise.

Eventually, when he waved his hand to wave at us I spotted him.

"What are you up to?" Kakashi asked.

"Mayhem and madness of course" Naoki replied calmly.

Sakura and Hinata nodded in greeting, ignoring Naoki's comment.

"Mayhem involves doughnuts now?" Kakashi asked, eyeing the bag of doughnuts curiously.

"Doughnuts?" A chipper voice cried. I waved my head in three different directions.

Naruto was hiding somewhere.

"Shut up you moron" A cool, confident voice snapped.

So Sasuke was hiding here somewhere too.

Kakashi sidestepped a little, revealing the two teenage boys. Was Kakashi really big enough to hide those two?

Naruto ran forward and grabbed a doughnut.

"On a date, are we?" I teased as Sasuke grabbed one and tentatively bit into it. I laughed loudly at the sight of his scowl.

Sometimes that kid was so funny with his facial expressions.

"With this idiot, no way" Sasuke snapped.

Naruto was off chatting with Sakura, or ignoring us.

"So you don't deny to being gay?" I inquired, smirking. I had so just beaten him at my own game.

Iruka covered a laugh as Sasuke gave me a deadly glare.

"There's this new movie out" Naruto was saying, "Although it's a little scary."

I smiled. A horror movie? I hated horror movies. So, in a spilt second I knew what I wanted to do.

"Let's go to the movies!"

**Question time: How many people have done something they hate, just because they want to?**

**I have, its probably a bad habit though. I ate bananna cream pudding the other day even though I hate the stuff.**

**Ahem, otherwise, not much to say, besides I probably just killed whatever drama I was building up too...kyeh kyeh kyeh.**

**R&R**

**- Y.A.O.G**


	17. Don't Eat Yellow Snow

**Yeah, quick update, but only because I just had to let you guys read this as soon as possibe. Yeah, the chappie titles has nothing to do with this.**

* * *

After a brief rendition of a song from Orphan Annie and a minor (I only say minor because the worst injury anyone got was a small bruise) inncident at the consession stand we were all seated in the theater. Hinata was sitting in the eisle seat, Naruto next to her, then Naoki, then Kakashi, then me, then Sasuke, then Sakura, and then Iruka.

I shoved some pre-movie popcorn into my mouth, savoring the taste. I really hated horror movies.

"I'm going to have to old someone's hand" I declared. Yeah, I'm a wuss, leave it alone. When no one responded, or even appeared to care, I huffed loudly.

"Fine, I'll hold my own hand" And with that statement out of the way, I clasped my hands together firmly. The force made an incredibly large smacking noise, which resulted in a few dirty glares. I stuck my tounge out in response.

Once again, I'm a wuss, and if they wanted me to be to deafen anyone seated near me they might have well just admitted it. As the theater darkened the grip on my hands tightened. The previews could be just as frightening as the movie itself, or so I had learned. This time, sadly, it was not the case.

The movie was full of random pop-ups and over dramatic background music. By the time we were halfway into the movie (Or so I hoped) my knuckles were almost completely white. It was starting to hurt but only a little. I wasn't the only one scared, Sakura was edging closer to Sasuke by the minute. Sasuke seemed unfazed and was edging was from Sakura and towards me.

Just when my frazzled nerves were calming from the last show of blood and guts…_BAM!_ A terrified, dead, bloody face in the screen. Digging my nails into my own hands to stifle a scream and elbowing Sasuke, I realized something, I was starting lose feeling in my hands.

Oh, great, just great, best movie experience ever. Notice the sarcasm?

Luckily, someone finally noticed. Kakashi reached over and pried my hands apart.

"You're going to cut off your own circulation" Kakashi whispered. He looked completely calm, like nothing of the sort was going to scare him. Oh, that was just cruel, in the face of one of my weaknesses he just looks like 'Oh, well, it's a few dead bodies and a crazed killer with a machine gun'.

'It's a few dead bodies and a crazed killer with a machine-gun' my ass. This was one of the scarier movies I had seen in a while, not like I watched many or anything.

I was expecting him to pull his hand away and leave me to my own methods of dealing with horror movies, but instead and he kept hold of one my hands and squeezed it reassuringly. I blinked in surprise. Sure, Kakashi seemed nice enough, but even I couldn't have seen this coming. He held my hand the rest of the movie, even though eventually I'm fairly certain that I was digging my nails into his gloved hands.

The moment the slightest trace of light came on in the theater we pulled our hands apart, Kakashi gently massaging his, I just flexed my fingers out a few times.

"That was scary" I heard Hinata comment. I paused, she had to be talking to herself, otherwise she would've been stammering because Naruto was right behind. Naoki left as we exited the theater and into the expansive lobby area. Iruka left, mainly because he had to teach a bunch of kids later on. I laughed at him as he left. Naruto spotted a crane machine and, after borrowing some change from me, rushed off to play.

I looked up at Kakashi, who was staring at me. "You have butter on your face" Kakashi commented. I frowned, not bothering to take the effort to wipe it off.

Kakashi peered over my shoulder towards Sasuke and Sakura who were doing something that I didn't care about. I was still a little perturbed about Kakashi holding my hand, sure, he was a nice guy, but all the same, it just wasn't something I thought he would do. Well, not unless he made fun of me first.

"I have some candy left over," Sakura was saying. I still didn't turn around; I didn't want to. "Wanna share." I could pretty much envision Sasuke shaking his head and backing away slowly.

"Please, Sasuke" Sakura begged. I could hear Sasuke backing up slowly, preparing to run, but, no, I still wouldn't turn around. As Sasuke wheeled around to make a mad break for it he smacked into my back, sending me flying towards Kakashi.

My arms flew out into the air wildly, like someone on a roller coaster, except I was trying to find something to grab. Somehow, when I was falling down, my hand managed to reach high enough and grab at Kakashi's mask.

The mask slid off his face, although I had an odd feeling that there was more than one mask that I pulled down. Just after managing to pull Kakashi's mask off, he grabbed my elbow and helped me steady myself.

Once I got a clear look at Kakashi's face, I couldn't quite figure out why he even wore the mask. As one would expect from covering most of one's face, part of his skin was a little bit tanner than the rest, but other than that, well, I only describe it as handsome. His jaw had a sort of natural firm set, his cheekbones were pronounced, but only a little, his nose was, well, a nose, and his lips were pale, but in a nice way, and they seemed to be stuck in a small smirk. A scar ran down from under the head band thing but I didn't dare pull it up. There were small scratch marks on his right cheek from where I had pulled the mask down. As for his expression, he looked a little bewildered, and I understood completely.

I don't think I had ever once seen, or heard of someone seeing, the Kakashi without the mask, so, I suppose that it would be a little odd if one person, a single klutzy person, could pull it down.

Well, after this little spurt of madness, guess what happened next?

If you guessed a psycho Naruto running towards us, waving a crane machine toy in his hands like it was the last bit of leprechaun gold, you were dead on.

"Kakashi-sensei, Akiko-sensei, look what I won!" He screamed. Sadly, like most overexcited people, they forget when to stop.

He collided with Kakashi's back, sending the prize flying, but, more importantly, sending Kakashi falling towards, you guessed it, me.

For ninja's I guess we were both a little slow, Kakashi from actually sidestepping Naruto, and me, for not moving when Kakashi pretty much fell on me.

The worst part is, if I hadn't had fallen before, his mask would still be on, so, then, when I felt something against my lips, it would've been a mask, not Kakashi's lips.

Kakashi was apparently rather heavy and had knocked me to the ground, and he was now hovering above me, hands beside my head, legs (Very sadly) straddling my waist, lips pressed against mine, and his expression was most likely mirroring mine. A mixture of shock, the classic 'I'm going to murder Naruto', and either disgust or enjoyment. There was a fine line between the two, and I couldn't quite distinguish them.

The shocked silence was enough to actually hurt my ears, and a part of me was actually really excited to see what their faces looked like.

After what felt like ten minutes, while it was more like twenty seconds (Yeah, we were both a little slow), Kakashi rolled off, stood up and helped me up.

"You scratched my face" Kakashi scolded, pulling on his mask and rubbing the cheek I had scratched. Curse his annoyingly cool, calm, attitude.

"You _kissed_ me" I snapped back.

Our eyes met for a moment, and besides an odd, random breathless moment, I think we mentally agreed we were even.

I looked around our little group. Sakura looked like she was going to be scarred for life, Sasuke was twitching in that way only he can, Naruto looked, well, he looked a little mad actually.

"I missed it" He moaned. Then I understood; He wanted to see Kakashi's face under the mask.

"Don't worry," I said, waving reassuringly to him, "Nothing really all that special."

"I'm not going to pretend that wasn't mean," Kakashi said in mock-offense.

As normal as it sounds like things were, things were more awkward than you would believe. In fact, the only that would make it more awkward was if, well, I had no idea, although I knew a streaker wouldn't have done anything, which makes it pretty bad.

"Work tomorrow?" I asked. The fact that everyone was still a little frazzled was making this more awkward. Kakashi nodded. I scratched the back of my head even though it wasn't itchy. A few more seconds of awkward silence.

"You still have butter on your face" Kakashi pointed out, looking as awkward as I did.

"I bet I do" I replied dryly. Of all the damn things to point out, a thing of butter on my face.

Sasuke cleared his throat, making sure everyone knew he was feeling as awkward about this as the rest of us.

Thank you Captain Obvious. "Um, what did you win Naruto?" Sakura asked. Finally, the silence breaker.

Naruto nodded, catching on oddly quickly. He snatched the prize up and showed it to use.

"A watch?" Sasuke observed, sounding unimpressed. I felt the same way, but I had to make a comment, and so I did.

"Why don't you give it to Kakashi, so he can get lost on the road of life a little earlier."

I heard three snickers from the younger kids, while Kakashi just gave me a dry look. I smiled in an apologetic manner that pretty much meant 'Sorry, but I just _had _to make a stupid comment'. Kakashi rolled his eye.

Then Naruto shook his head, "Nah, I think I'll save it."

I raised an eyebrow, "For what?"

Judging by the way Naruto eyed Sakura before blushing and stammering "N-no reason" I had a pretty decent idea on what he was planning.

"Well, that's stupid" Sasuke commented.

"Is not!" Naruto snapped back, sticking out his tongue.

"Is too!" Sasuke snapped.

They bickered like that for a while, leaving Sakura, Kakashi, and I to stand in another awkward silence.

"God, they bicker like a married couple" I complained after about the fifteenth round of 'Is not, Is too'.

"Thanks for planting that image into my mind" Kakashi remarked, making Sakura freeze and twitch in disgust.

"No problem" I replied, cringing in disgust at the mental image that popped into my head.

Sakura stifled a yawn. I blinked, the sun had pretty much just set, and she was tired?

What a weird kid.

"If you're tired you can leave" Kakashi offered. Sakura nodded, said goodbye to everyone, then went out the doors and to wherever she lived.

Sasuke and Naruto were still fighting.

"You okay?" Kakashi asked me suddenly.

I blinked in surprise at the random question.

"Well, I have a scarring mental image in my head, I think I'm hearing horror music, and my lips are a little bruised, other than that, just peachy" I replied.

"You sound fine to me" Kakashi said with a shrug. Somehow, in the middle of the conversation I became aware of how thankful I was Naoki wasn't here. Although she'd probably read my mind and find out, for now I was spared.

"IS not!" Naruto snapped. He looked a little livid.

"Is too!" Sasuke replied, maintaining a cool air.

"I'm going to go before Naruto blows up" I said, nodding uncertainly towards the blond.

"You sure?" Kakashi asked, "Naruto blowing up would be quite a show."

"Yeah, but being covered in Naruto splotches isn't exactly how I pictures my evening" I explained.

The weird part about this was that there was still that air of awkward hanging between us like a multicolored tapestry of a peacock that you pretty much had to notice. Apparently getting along meant things were awkward for us.

"Understood, goodnight" Kakashi said curtly.

"'Night Kakashi" Then I turned to Sasuke and Naruto, "I would say g'night to you, but after that married comment I can no longer look you two in the eye."

That shut them up then and there.

Kakashi waved in thanks, and then I ran out towards the doors.

Sadly, I forgot to open the doors and ran face first into the glass.

I didn't fall, thankfully, I merely stumbled backward, feeling dazed. I could hear Kakashi's chuckle, Sasuke's scoff, and Naruto's mad chuckle as I walked outside. Somehow I couldn't the kiss off my mind.

Sure, it was an accident, but it was a haunting memory. So, by the time I had made it home I had no doubt that Naoki had pieced together what had happened.

* * *

**There you guys go, finally some romance. Also, I feel I have sucsessfully not mentioned at major plot points, so, no one knows where this is going! Aha! I am a genius.**

**Ok, as thanks for recomending some readers to me (And major fear of her kicking my ass later), I will recomend my good ole' buddy Suzuki Yumi '.' for those who have not read her fics.**

**Ok, I'm done**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	18. PIG

**Here we go, a new chappie. Yeah, eventually I'll find the plot, but the bunny hopped away because of my dog..heh.**

**Enjoy!**

I stretched out on the couch, enjoying the ability to bask in nothingness. I had managed two days of helping with team 7 without injury, thus the reason I was celebrating it after by being a lazy bum. I heard the creak of the door as it opened and footsteps entering the house.

"Hey" I moaned.

"Hey 'Ko" My uncle said, making noise in the kitchen. "You're cousin, Subaru, is coming by today" He said.

I shot up from the couch. Way to ruin my day. Subaru had to be the most annoying kid. _Ever_. I

wracked my brain for a way out of it. Naoki was of doing God knows what and I could use her as an excuse to get out. I didn't really want to go talk to Iruka or anyone about with the kids' survival mission, which would _not_ be fun.

One: Little kids.

Two: Annoying.

Three: They never shut up. I know that's not saying much for me, but I find it really annoying when they have to do something important to do and it's like 'blah-blah-blah-blah'.

Ok, so I have minor issues.

An idea hit me and I dashed madly to the phone. After lifting the receiver and pushing the first number, I remembered something, something important; I needed the phone number.

Thus the reason I tore apart the house searching for the phone book. I ran upstairs, although I think of no logical reason for the phone book to be upstairs.

Phone book…phone book….phone book.

I ran back downstairs and checked the bathroom.

Phone book…phone book.

Yeah, don't ask me why I checked the bathroom, I once found the television remote in there.

I checked the living room next.

Phone book…. Phone book….. phone book.

Next stop: The kitchen.

Phone book….where was the damn thing?!

Walking up to the phone, something yellow caught my eye. The phone book.

Sighing at the fact I had to look around the entire house for it when it was by the phone.

I flipped through, looking for the H's. When I found it I dialed the number as quickly as possible. It rang. I drummed my fingers in the air, praying that he would answer and give me a reason to avoid my cousin. After four rings I lost my patience. I really hated my cousin.

"Answer the phone already you lazy ass" I snapped. Very sadly, maybe, this was around the same time Kakashi's voice answered

"Hello?"

There was an awkward pause, as I held in laughter and Kakashi had to guess who was calling him names on the phone.

"Akiko?" He guessed.

I laughed. "Dead on" I assured him, before taking off full speed, "Look, I need a reason to get out of the house, don't ask why, but no one else is around to help, so please, give me one good reason to leave."

I inhaled deeply. Talking at intense speed takes a lot out of you or so I had learned. I heard Kakashi's good humored laugh through the phone.

"Well, I have some paperwork" He began.

"What'd you get signed up doing now?" I asked. Seriously, I would love to hear the story of how he got roped into helping out the police. I doubt he would tell me though.

"The mission" Kakashi replied calmly.

"A week later and you only got to it now?!" I asked incredulously.

"I just roll that way" Kakashi replied calmly.

"I _would_ call you lazier than Shikamaru, but seeing as how my sanity"

"Or what is left of it" Kakashi muttered.

"Shut up! Anyway, seeing as how my sanity is at stake, I'll help" I decided, still talking pretty darn fast. I could break a word per minute record pretty easily.

"Good, I was just going to throw it out anyway" Kakashi said.

"I'll be there eventually," I said, slamming the phone down.

After breaking the news to my uncle, which he took rather well because I was working, and took off to Kakashi's place.

After a short moment of wondering whether or not Kakashi's part time hobby was sewing I knocked on the door. I was vaguely aware of how sloppy I looked.

I was wearing bright red, fuzzy, pajama pants with snowflakes on them, an overly large sweater that I couldn't remember getting and bright pink slippers. The door opened.

"Hey, were you planning on going to bed or something? My couch is off-limits" Kakashi informed me as I entered his house.

I snapped my fingers, moving my arm like a singing sailor. "Darn, because I was _totally_ planning on sleeping on your couch."

"It is pretty comfortable," Kakashi said. I clapped my hands together loudly.

"So, where is this paperwork?" I asked. Kakashi led me to the kitchen without saying a word. I looked around, shaking my head in shame.

You know how people always say "It looks like a tornado hit here"? Well, this time it was like two tornadoes and a herd of over-sized pigs had come through.

There were dirty dishes piled high, a sink that was also full of them, and about three empty pizza boxes. I scowled at the mess. Papers were scattered on the table, and, well, the messiness was just irking me.

Kakashi yawned loudly. "Ignore the mess."

A little late for that, I thought dryly.

I glared at Kakashi, mentally reprimanding him for leaving his house in such a bad state. Kakashi yawned again, and I became aware of how weary he looked.

"Have you been sleeping properly?" I asked, using my motherly tone.

"Not really" Kakashi admitted.

I blinked. That was easy.

"Go to bed" I instructed, pointing to the living room.

"Why?" He asked, looking at me strangely.

"We can't have the team leader passing out from exhaustion in the middle of training" I explained, still using my motherly tone.

"I'm not going to pass out," Kakashi said, rolling his eye. I narrowed my eyes. I don't know why I was putting up that much of a fight about someone else's sleeping patterns. I'm just going to claim it's because I'm a concerned citizen.

"Go to bed Kakashi" I commanded, again, still sounding like a mother.

"Why do you care?" Kakashi asked. Normally, that phrase would be used in emo situations, but it was just Kakashi being honest.

"Me? Well, I care because I can't really have my boss being tired and doing something moronic so that I don't get paid" I explained. I don't know why, but I felt like I was lying about something.

"Well, we can't have that" Kakashi muttered sarcastically. Then, I pulled out the worst of my playing cards.

"I'll tell Naruto where you live and send him here" I threatened. Kakashi sighed; knowing I would tell Naruto when forced.

"Fine." And with that Kakashi walked away, off to take a nap. I filled out the paperwork stuff first.

It was three pages of stuff like "Did you encounter any problems on the way?" And then, for some retarded reason there was multiple choice questions too. It only took me half-an-hour to fill out, and I was left wondering why Kakashi would put it off, it's not exactly time consuming.

I _was_ going to leave, but then I surveyed the kitchen. How could he live in such a mess? I'm not a neat freak myself, but I had to admit this was bad.

So, I made a spilt-minute decision to avoid my cousin a bit longer. I decided to clean the mess. To this day I shudder at the thought of it. Cleaning the dishes alone took the better part of an hour, then putting them away took a whole hour. The worst part was I couldn't remember where everything was, so I had to leave the cabinet doors open, and I walked into them so many times.

Two hours later and I was still cleaning, but only because my cousin would probably be staying till ten, and it was only three. Damn Kakashi and his laziness. I still wouldn't compare him to Shikamaru though. Besides, I had seen Kakashi move way more times than Shikamaru.

I had just finished cleaning and was priding myself on the fact that the counter and floor with both visible, when I happened to see the living room. I mean, dear God, the man lives like a pig. You'd never guess in public, but geez in his house it's like he parties twenty-four seven.

I shook my head.

Must resist urge to clean….resisting…..resisting, wait! Damn you feet!

I was walked into the living room picking up some random debris that looked oddly like a flattened sock, which I threw onto the couch, ignoring the fact that Kakashi was dozing there.

If someone saw this the probably would've thought there was something going on besides the fact that I was avoiding a demonic ten-year and this was my only way out of it.

I laughed at the thought, then resumed throwing laundry at the sleeping form of my boss. Sure, he wasn't going to like it when he woke up, but I wasn't planning on sticking around that long.

After picking up a pair of pants, I was starting to wonder why he was leaving all his laundry in the living room; most people tend to leave it in bedrooms and, just maybe, the laundry room. Yeah, I know, hard to believe. After cleaning the laundry, I found like two pizza boxes.

Seriously, P-I-G.

That cleaning job took three hours, dusting off the television including

. I scribbled down a note informing him that he wasn't robbed, then went home.

When I got into the door my ten-year-old cousin bombarded me. Yeah, he was still there.

"Where were you?" He demanded.

"Work" I replied casually.

"In your pajama's?" Subaru asked, looking at me as if I was the strangest person in the world.

I glared back at him. "Fine, I had to help my boss with something and ended up staying a bit longer" I explained, walking past him.

"Who's your boss?" He inquired, tilting his head slightly so that I couldn't see the mischievous glint in his eye. I wouldn't have noticed because my back was to him anyway.

"Kakashi Hatake, why does it matter?" I said with a shrug, getting myself a glass of lemonade.

"Do you love him?" Subaru asked.

That caught me off guard.

"Tch, no" I said, blinking away my flustered-ness.

"You sound like you're lying" Subaru pointed out.

"Yeah well" I snapped, wheeling around to face him, "You're ten!"

Oh yes, best insult ever.

We glared at each other for a few moments, although I was still in shock. Psch, I do not love Kakashi, no way.

"If looks could kill" My uncle laughed, peering into the kitchen. I smiled grudgingly.

Okay, so my little cousin didn't seem bad, just nosy, but take it from the girl who had to baby-sit him for twelve hours. He threw up on me twice, in my purse once, and photocopied two of my diary pages and then threw it into the wind. Evil little bugger.

After enduring four more hours of Subaru and little whispered "Akiko and Kakashi sitting in a tree" he finally left.

I was so happy that I flopped down on my bed, lay there for half an hour, then, remembering that I was hungry, went downstairs and ate celebratory waffles. Once I was finished I resumed doing nothing on my bed.

After a while sleep washed over me and I was forced to endure dreams about trees, Subaru, Kakashi, and tomatoes.

* * *

**Trust me, dreams about tomatoes are not fun. No way. Erm, anyway, a split minute descions has made me decided to write the next chappie from Kakashi's point of view.**

**Anywhom, R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	19. The Upbeat Paradox

**Here we are...wow, I've been updating oddly fast for my previous track records. Meh, who cares. Anywhom, enjoy.**

* * *

My eyes fluttered open, and I was puzzled.

Why couldn't I see?

Sure, the mask obscured one eye's line of view, but I was at a loss to why I couldn't see through the other one.

Raising a hand to my eye I discovered a sock covering my eye. A dirty, crusty, moldy sock at that.

After removing the sock, I was beginning to wonder why I was covered in laundry.

Of course, right after that I remembered who had been hanging out in my house the day before.

Akiko.

Which, naturally, brought up the question, what the heck was she doing with my laundry?

I sat up, watching in surprise as a large pile of laundry fell off my chest and into another pile on my lap.

Great, now it was impossible for me to get up without a great amount of effort.

I swung my legs of the couch, knocking the laundry onto the floor.

I frowned.

Something was wrong.

My place looked….different.

Oh my God!

I was robbed.

I leapt up, looking around. I could see the floors, something was definitely wrong.

I walked into the kitchen, hoping that if I was robbed they at least left whatever food was in the fridge. Something was wrong in the kitchen too.

Both the counter-top and the floors were visible.

Damn it! I _was_ robbed.

Then, besides a small stack of paper on the table, I noticed a scribbled note on loose-leaf besides the other stack of paper. I picked it up and scanned it over.

_"Hey Kakashi"_ it read, _"In case you were wondering, no you haven't been robbed, this is what your house looks like clean."_

I smiled, albeit nervously, at the letter. In the first two sentences I could tell who had written it. I continued reading.

_"You seriously live like a pig, and, well, I seriously believe that if I hadn't cleaned you would've woken up one morning, slipped on a sock (Ick, by the way. It was moldy!) and cracked your head open and bled on your dirt and pizza covered floor. Sincerely, Akiko"_

I rolled my eyes at the last bit. Typical Akiko, making up some over-dramatic story.

Checking over the stack of paper, I grinned a little. I didn't actually have to do the paperwork.

It was just stupid, I mean really, why would anyone put multiple choice questions on it?

Then again, Tsunade has always been a little lazy.

I figured I might as well go change my clothes before going to meet up with Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura.

Oddly enough, when I entered my room, something really stupid happened, I slipped on a sock.

My head didn't crack open or anything though, I just banged it a little on the hardwood.

I sat up, rubbing my head. I was never going to admit this to Akiko, which just wouldn't be pretty.

After I got changed into a pair of clothes that looked almost exactly the ones I was wearing the day before, I left.

That little, annoying, gentlemanly voice in the back of my head was telling me to go thank Akiko, although the rest of me was saying no.

Sadly, as it almost always goes, I listened to that gentlemanly voice.

Walking up to Akiko's place, I was already considering running for the hills, but, sadly, someone in the window spotted me.

I didn't recognize him, although the random, spastics antics he was doing reminded me of Gai.

The next thing I knew, the front door was flung open and Akiko was standing there, grinning at me maniacally. She was obviously proud of what she'd done to my house.

As things tended to go when I was around Akiko, I ended up doing something I never would've though of.

I walked up to her, narrowing me eye and making Akiko grin broadly.

"I can see my floor!" I exclaimed happily, wrapping my arms around her. Akiko was obviously as surprised at this as I was.

"Did you hit your head or something?" Akiko asked, sounding puzzled but not pulling away.

I pulled away smirking at the fact Akiko's face had turned a little red. I wasn't going to admit that I had, in fact, tripped and hit my head.

"I inhaled moldy sock all night, what do you expect?" I asked, faking an angry glare.

Akiko grinned sheepishly. I swear she's always grinning about something, no matter how stupid

"Well, I wasn't going to do your laundry, that would just be icky" Akiko explained. I nodded understandingly.

"Shall we head off to the gang?" I inquired politely.

"Ah, the stalker in the married couple" she said, nodding sagely.

I blinked away whatever images the whole married thing brought to mind. It was a creepy thought, and a part of me had a sinking feeling Akiko was on to something.

"What's the lesson plan for today?" Akiko asked brightly.

I shrugged. "I was thinking maybe some kind of fighting practice" I offered.

"I swear if I'm the practice dummy again" Akiko muttered.

"You'll see when you get there," I said simply, walking away from her house. Akiko ran to keep up with me.

"So, anything new about the murders?" she asked.

"The killers been laying low" I explained. If there's one thing I hate, it's a psychopath that thinks ahead.

"Damn it!" Akiko swore.

I glanced at her in surprise. It wasn't the profanity that surprised me; it just kinda came out of nowhere.

Akiko noticed my glance and quickly explained, "That means either they've sudden gained a conscious or they've got a brain."

"Yeah, that's the problem" I agreed with a nod.

"Is there any sort of pattern to the killing?" She inquired.

I was seriously wondering why she acted like an idiot a lot of time; she was actually pretty smart, although if I ever admit it I'd probably end up digging myself into a hole of annoyance.

I shook my head. "No."

"So, it's a serial killer" Akiko said with a nod.

"Maybe, unless there was some sort of connection between all of them" I explained.

Akiko pursed her lips and nodded thoughtfully.

"You know" She began, running in front of me and walking backwards, "Maybe we should look back a bit, like, whether or not there's been any other murders similar to this one."

I nodded in agreement. There was the matter of that message. I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd seen it before, the one thing I knew is that it was Latin.

"You're going to trip" I pointed out to Akiko, who was still walking backwards in front of me.

She shrugged. I was getting the feeling she was used to stupid accidents, but who I am to say.

Then, almost at the same time as the shrug, Akiko stepped onto a small hole in the pavement and tumbled forward, landing right in front of my feet.

I stared down at her, completely uncertain of what to do.

She had pretty much defied whatever law of gravity there was left. Akiko pulled herself into a sitting position, laughing so hard she was almost crying.

So, I did the first thing that came to my mind; I laughed along. I wasn't laughing along half as hard, it was more or less an amused chuckle.

I extended a hand to help her up and she took it, still laughing merrily.

I hauled her up. "Is that really the funniest thing that's happened all day?" I asked, eyebrow raised.

Akiko grinned, gray eyes still shining with laughter and tears.

It was actually really sad that she was laughing so hard about falling.

We glanced down in unison and both came to the same sudden realization. We were still holding hands.

Akiko pulled it away sharply, blushing slightly. I wonder if she's even aware of how often she blushes.

"Okay, can we do push-ups today?" She begged, trying to give me the puppy-dog eyes.

She had massive push-up issues; Sasuke had a sore back for a week after she sat on him.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do more, spare myself, or spare my team. Then again, in the long run maybe the push-ups would help them.

"Sure" I said, laughing as Akiko punched the air and squealed with glee.

Paradox was normally a word for more serious situations, but, in all honesty, Akiko was pretty much an up-beat paradox. She was lazy, but yet incredibly fit and active, she was mean, but also really nice, then she was one of the biggest idiots I had ever met, besides Naruto, and yet she was really perceptive. Normally people were easy to figure out, and I'm not saying she wasn't, but I never normally had a problem figuring out what people were going to do, but Akiko tended to do the unexpected just because she could.

Now was a fine example, in my odd spaced out moment Akiko had found some little soccer ball on the side of the road and was aiming it towards my face.

Wait, towards my face?

Oh, well, crap.

"You wouldn't" I challenged, narrowing my eyes.

Akiko raised her foot and brought it down into the side of the ball.

The soccer ball, which had looked pretty harmless before, was looking rather painful as it spun towards my face.

I raised my hands and caught it right before it hit my face and launched it back at Akiko. That'll teach her to try and hit me with a ball.

It hit her in the chest and she winced in surprise.

"No fair" She moaned.

I just chuckled and shook my head before walking again.

Akiko followed behind me in silence, which I found odd. I threw a glance back at her questioningly. She looked like she was pondering something.

I was about to ask what when she answered for me.

"Do you use hair gel or does it just naturally stick up like that?" She inquired, staring at me like it was the most important question ever.

"Ah, the eternal question" I said mysteriously.

Akiko cocked her head to the side. "Do you?"

I grinned under the mask, although I have a feeling she knew I was smiling. "A man needs to have some secrets" I stated wisely.

Akiko nodded, "Yeah, so I can discover them!"

I shook my head and continued walking. She was such a weirdo.

I halted as I walked past the old memorial.

"You go on" I told Akiko.

Akiko looked at me curiously before shrugging and walking off. I watched her leave, feeling oddly certain that whatever I saw when I met up with them wasn't going to be pretty.

* * *

**Kay, I'm going to go back to Akiko's point of view, because it just has to for the next chapter. :)**

**I've been watching Naruto Abridged for like an hour now and, well, I'm getting hyper, and it's past my bedtime.**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	20. Fairy Princess

I frowned as I ran away.

I could pry, and normally I would, but then again, there were push-ups too.

Pry, or push-ups.

Ah, sweet indecision. I glanced back and forth wildly.

This had to be one of the toughest things, ever.

Eventually, the sweet call of push-ups lulled me in, and I made a mental note to ask Kakashi about leaving later. But, whatever, back to the push-ups.

When I finally stepped into Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura's line of view, Sasuke's expression morphed into one of "Oh God, not her again."

Real nice Sasuke, really nice way to treat your sensei.

"Ten push-ups!" I commanded, grinning maniacally.

"W-h-y?" Naruto moaned. I frowned thoughtfully.

"Because you're an annoying ass" I decided.

Sasuke snickered, so I wheeled around to face him. In other words, I made a ten-degree turn.

"And you!" I snapped, turning to him, "You, my good friend, are as dainty as a fairy princess!"

Sasuke glowered, Sakura gasped, and I smirked. Two birds with one stone.

Really though, I could picture Sasuke in fairy wings.

"Now, ten push-ups" I commanded again, waiting for the complaint.

"Sensei" Sasuke began. I opened my mouth to snap, but Sasuke continued. "Are you drunk?"

I laughed, getting a feeling that they were now convinced I was drunk.

"Trust me, you would know if I was drunk" I promised. They didn't look convinced, so I just glared at them until they started with the push-ups. I grinned. Ah, sweet push-ups. I hated doing them, but I loved making other people.

When they had all finished and were glaring at me, I had no clue what to do with them.

"Alright, I have no idea what exactly Kakashi wanted you guys to do, so we're stuck waiting till he shows. Wanna slack off?" I inquired.

They all looked shocked. I rolled my eyes.

I couldn't want to slack off or something?

"So, are you guys going to that big party thing?" I inquired, hoping to strike up conversation.

Sasuke shrugged, so I just assumed he didn't care. Naruto nodded vigorously, that was a yes. Sakura grinned shyly in Sasuke's direction.

"…….."

The silence was painful, in that awkward annoying way.

I bit my lip awkwardly. Damn silences.

"Naruto, what would you do if there were a bunch of dead kids in the graveyard?" I inquired randomly.

"Nothing" Naruto replied, raising an eyebrow at the question, "Dead kids are supposed to be in the graveyard."

I nodded, accepting his wisdom.

"But what if they weren't part of they graveyard" Sasuke muttered.

"Then we'd have a problem" Naruto commented.

"Yes, yes we would" I agreed.

"Why would someone put the dead kids in the graveyard though, were they in there before?" Sakura inquired.

This was the first time I had heard her say something sensible lately, so I was really proud. I almost hugged her, but then I realized it would be unfair to Naruto and Sasuke, so I'd have to hug them too. I wasn't really in the mood for a round of hugs, maybe later.

"They probably just wanted to spare us the trouble of doing it later," I said with shrug.

"Or maybe they were killed in the graveyard and the killer was just lazy" Sasuke suggested like it was the most obvious thing there was.

"Sasuke makes a good point," Sakura said shyly, blushing. I rolled my eyes. Ugh, back to whole Sasuke is a genius thing.

Seriously, does he have like some secret lady woo-ing techniques, because that's the only way I could think he would ever be that popular?

I shrugged; both had good points.

"Well, what if they like, committed suicide or something" Naruto added.

Oh-ho-ho, they were certainly being smart today.

"All of them?" Sakura asked doubtfully.

"Maybe they were all clinically depressed or something" I took Naruto's side so that way we were all even on the debate.

"All of them?" Sakura repeated.

There was silence as we all pondered about what this could possibly mean.

"Maybe only one a few of them were depressed, and they just took out the rest cause they were crazy" Sasuke suggested.

"The fairy princess makes a lovely point" I nodded in approval.

Sasuke glowered at me again.

"You know if you keep that up you're going to get wrinkles" I informed him solemnly.

Sakura made this aghast face that looked like it was trying convey shock at the though of Sasuke with wrinkles. Naruto snickered.

I sauntered over to Sasuke, trying to ignore the thought of what the fan girls would do to me if they ever found out.

I draped my arm around him and prodded his cheek with my finger.

"Seriously, you should smile more," I said, grinning as I jabbed his cheek with my index finger. Sasuke scowled in irritation.

Sakura looked mortified and jealous, so I stifled a laugh. Sasuke pinched my hand that was around his shoulder and I retracted it sharply, slapping the back of his head in the process.

I shuffled away from Sasuke, muttering something unintelligible.

Another silence followed. I licked my lips slowly.

Naruto coughed, a simply way of asking someone to talk.

No one took the hint.

I jumped as I felt something land on my hand.

Was it a huge bird?

No, it was freakishly large with five little stub things pointing out.

Oh, well, that probably makes it a hand. I grabbed the wrist of whoever was touching my head with a vice grip.

I wheeled around, adjusting my grip as I went. Of course, like it always seems to go, the person was Kakashi.

He attempted to pry my hand away from his arm, but failed, wincing. I grinned sheepishly, retracting my grip.

"Geez, you've got an iron grip" Kakashi commented.

"Well, when you wield a sword, you really have to" I pointed out.

Kakashi nodded then peered over my shoulder to face everyone else. I turned back around.

"Alright, you haven't been getting much fighting experience lately" Kakashi began.

I walked over to sit beside Naruto. From what I could tell we were going to be doing some fighting. I wasn't complaining though.

"Are we going to fight?" Naruto asked eagerly. Kakashi nodded.

"I want you to at least be able to lay a few punches on me, you can use weapons if they aren't going to be used to kill me" Kakashi glanced at me and I grinned.

I hadn't actually done anything to almost kill him, but I supposed I understood the glance.

"Am I sitting out?" I inquired sweetly. I just wanted to sit and watch from the sidelines today.

"Sure" Kakashi said with a shrug. I smiled sweetly and found a tree to lean against.

I watched them fight for a little bit. Kakashi was exceptionally good at managing to block punches and kicks.

So, I couldn't exactly attack him head on without being caught….unless he was asleep or drugged.

Not like I was planning to or anything…ah heh heh. Seriously though, I'm not.

Sasuke and Naruto did most of the work. Sakura, even though she could do important stuff, just stood slightly out of range and screamed at them.

I wasn't sure if they had an attack plan or not, from my point of view it looked like they were just throwing random punches and not even watching Kakashi to find a weak point.

He did, it was mainly acting on his part I'm sure, but he wasn't using his left side as much and tended to swing to the right.

Yeah, definitely faking, I had seen him fight before, he would move in any direction.

My eyes slowly closed. So bored, they sucked. I was half-asleep for a long time, drifting in and out of sleep as the fight went on.

I have no idea when, but I fell asleep.

"Akiko" A voice hissed.

"Let me sleep!" I protested, flailing weakly.

"You've been asleep for three hours," The voice said dully. I opened one eye and peered at Kakashi.

"Really, is it over?" I asked. Kakashi nodded.

"Okay then, I'm awake!" I declared, jumping up. After my nap I was full of energy.

Kakashi stood next to me and stared like he had something to say. I returned the look with a mock-innocent look.

I hadn't done anything, but maybe I could fool him.

"Do you want to go out for supper?" Kakashi asked suddenly.

I almost lost my cool, but I found it quickly.

"Depends where" I replied mysteriously.

"At that new fancy restaurant in town" He replied.

"You can afford that?!" I asked incredulously.

I knew that in no way, shape, or form, he could afford something that fancy. Seriously, I had heard some of the stuff on the menu. I could barley pronounce some of that crap.

"I got a coupon, but it's for two" Kakashi admitted.

Hah! I knew it!

But why was he asking me?

If he just wanted free food he would've taken like Iruka or something.

"Is this like a date or are you just a cheap bastard?" I inquired.

"Little bit of both" Kakashi replied, maintaining an air of calm-ness. I felt my heart skip a beat.

A date?

"How can I say no to food?" I asked rhetorically, grinning.

I noticed a happy twinkle in Kakashi's eye. My mind was still reeling.

A date? With me?!

Okay, so I was freaking out a tad.

"I'll pick you up," Kakashi said with a nod.

After that he wandered off, leaving me with my minor spaz session.

Seriously, with me?! I have no idea why I was making such a big deal about it, but it may have had something to do with the fact I had no idea that he was going to ask that.

I shook my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts.

It wasn't exactly successful. Thus the reason I was wandering down the main street of Konoha. Maybe not because I was in daze, but just because I didn't want to explain to my uncle why I planned to walked into either a glass or screen more than once. Besides, I think he'd probably figure it out himself.

My mind began to wander top to other things, like how exactly they got the caramel into those chocolate bars. Seriously though, I'll never truly understand how exactly they get it in.

That would be around when I ran Iruka.

"What's got you wandering around in a daze?" He inquired, steadying himself.

"Well, maybe I hit my head on something hard, or maybe I have a date tonight" I informed him mysteriously.

"A date?" Iruka questioned. He sounded like it wasn't possible for me to get a date.

Which was just mean.

I can get a date whenever I damn well want.

"I'm taking your somewhat pissed look for a yes" Iruka decided, then he decided to ask the obvious question, "With whom?"

I pursed my lips. To tell, or not to tell. That is the question.

"You don't have to tell me," He added quickly.

I was still frowning thoughtfully.

"It's Kakashi" I blurted out. Damn you mouth! Moving on it's own. Stupid.

"He actually did it" Iruka muttered, sounding amazed.

"You _knew_?!" I asked. Why the hell would he know?

"Kakashi came and asked for my advice" Iruka explained.

I stifled a laugh. Somehow I could imagine Kakashi asking for advice.

"And you told him what?" I left the question hanging, waiting.

"I told him to go for it" Iruka said with a shrug. He checked his watch.

"Y'know, if you want to get ready and go, I would leave now" He suggested.

I nodded slowly.

"See ya later!" I called, taking off in a full speed run.

The fact that I was going on a date with Kakashi only sunk in when I was digging through my closet.

I was actually going on a date with Kakashi.

Holy crap.

And I had agreed.

I froze.

Why in God's name had I agreed? T

hen I shrugged. It was a little late to question my reasoning for it. Eventually I settled on an outfit.

I had picked out a green, button up shirt with semi-poofy sleeves that made me look like a pro-painter and a pair of flared blue jeans.

It wasn't fancy, but it was better than what I normally wore.

I tied my hair back and stuck a pin in it to hide the bangs.

I then ventured off downstairs to make some tea.

"You look fancy" my uncle commented. I smiled like an innocent little girl.

"Why thank you kind sir," I said, plopping down on the couch next to him.

"What's the occasion?" My uncle inquired his tone hinting that he already knew.

"I have a date" I informed him, folding my arms and turning to the TV. It was blank.

"Watching nothing?" I commented.

"I lost the remote" My uncle explained.

I nodded understandingly. If you can't find the remote, why watch anything.

It was simple enough logic. I had calmed down a fair bit and was relaxing while staring at a blank screen when something happened.

Something that caused me to jump off in the couch in surprise.

The doorbell rang.

* * *

**BAH BAH BAHHH!**

**Okay, so maybe it wasn't all that dramatic, but Akiko never did get that cup of tea...**

**Oh, and I have a really strong mental image of Sasuke wearing pink, sparkly fairy wings and scowling, so, because I am a terrible artist whenever I want to draw something could any artists reading this draw it for me?**

**If not, meh, I'll get to someday, even if I butcher it. **

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	21. The Date

**M'kay, here we are with the date! Huzzah! Now, I have one question before we start: Have any of you every been scrolling through a section where one of your fanfics are, then you see one and you're like 'Oh, this one looks good', but then when you click on it you figure out that it's your own?**

**I have, more than once...heh.**

**Oh, yes, and a minor spoiler warning about Kakashi's past...although most already know thanks to wiki. Good ole wiki.**

* * *

You know, I had to admit I was rather surprised. Normally it would be me dragging a somewhat stunned Kakashi behind me, instead of the other way round.

Well, technically, he wasn't dragging me; he was holding my hand. Not because he was trying to romantic, but I kept on drifting into the middle of the road. I wasn't trying to or anything, but he probably thought I was subconsciously suicidal or something.

Well, maybe I was…duh duh duuhhhhh.

No, no I'm not, I just drift sideways when I walk sometimes.

Weird tendency, eh?

None the less we made it to the restaurant almost completely unscathed.

I only say almost because I walked straight into the glass door of the place.

I don't get why the put those stupid glass doors up, it's like saying 'Oh, look, some dumbass walked into it again, why don't we put more up so we can laugh at them'.

Meanies.

So, with only minor damage to whatever pride I had left, we made it to our table.

"Stupid fancy places" I grumbled, fiddling with the overly lacy tablecloth.

They had even go so far as to leave a lit candle on the table.

A lit candle, and me, I was not paying the fire bill. No way.

Other than that, well, it was just the general feel of the place, and the elevator-ish music playing softly over the speakers.

I really hated rich places, but I wasn't about to go complaining.

If Kakashi had talked to Iruka about it, he had to be somewhat nervous even if he acted calm.

I glanced up the tablecloth edge I was folding to look at Kakashi. He was staring blankly at me, his eyes were glazed, like he was elsewhere.

Oh yes, so nervous.

I glanced from the candle, to the tablecloth, to the candle, to the tablecloth, and so on and so forth.

I was wondering how flammable it was.

"Don't think about it" Kakashi warned me.

I looked up at him, plastering the classic caught-in-act grin over my face.

"Don't think about what?" I inquired sweetly, a slight tone of menace laced under the sweetness.

I really wanted to light it on fire.

Kakashi shook his head and muttered something about pyromaniacs.

I was still grinning when the waiter came round to drop off the menus.

The waiter looked too curvy to be a man, and the mustache was obviously fake and the glasses had no lenses, but I ignored it.

That was until it hit me who would dress like that.

"Naoki?" I asked in disbelief.

"Nooo" The waiter said in a deep voice that sounded like one that a fat woman would use when caught eating chocolate while dieting.

With that the waiter, or Naoki, rushed away.

"There aren't four of us" Kakashi commented, looking at the pile of menu's left on the table.

"Well, maybe you're fat enough to be considered three" I quipped, still grinning.

"Or maybe it's you" Kakashi retorted.

"Maybe we both are so fat we make two" I suggested.

I frowned when I realized that I had just called myself fat.

Kakashi chuckled victoriously and grabbed a menu.

I followed him and quickly scanned over everything.

My eyes widened in terror as I read over the menu. I could barely pronounce some of the crap in it.

"I'll have a Caesar salad" I decided.

Kakashi looked at me in a concerned manner.

"Are you dieting or something?" He asked. I raised an eyebrow at the question.

"No, I just don't want to make you pay too much" I informed him boldly.

"Is that all?" Kakashi asked. The way he was acting it was like he knew, but was waiting for me to say it myself.

"And I can't pronounce most of this crap" I admitted quietly.

Kakashi nodded in an 'I though so' manner before stating his order.

"I'll have the ribs" He decided. My eyes widened in amazement.

"There are ribs?!" I asked, maybe a little too loudly. A few other people dining heard and gave me the raised eyebrow look.

Kakashi nodded, laughing at the fact I hadn't noticed.

I scowled. That's it, I'm stealing some from him.

When the waiter/Naoki returned and asked for a drink almost immediately I replied "Iced tea without the ice". It was a compulsive habit cause I always drank the same thing. They have iced tea everywhere, or so I had learned.

Kakashi waited until he/she finished scribbling it down onto a notebook before he ordered.

"I'll have water," He said. I rolled my eyes.

"You're boring" I told him.

"Yeah, and you're having a salad" He retorted, somehow knowing that that comment would piss me right off.

Oh, that is it!

I am so going to steal some ribs.

After we had actually ordered I knew we'd be in for a long wait. I flopped down onto the table, banging my head painfully against the wood underneath.

I shifted my position a little so my left arm was my pillow and my right arm was extended towards Kakashi.

I had planned so that I wouldn't light myself on fire. That's not a pleasant feeling.

He patted my hand for a moment and made himself comfortable before spacing out.

In all honesty, this was the most boring part of the evening, because, well, sitting in a restaurant and being waited on by someone who my, in fact, be your best friend stalking you, isn't exactly my definition of fun.

Sure, I could name worse, but still.

It took an hour for the food to arrive, and by that time I had a feeling the entire population of Konoha could hear my stomach growling.

I was still laying on the table, groaning to add to the oddity of the scene.

There was a manly yet feminine cough as the waiter/Naoki waited for me to sit up properly.

As I sat up I stretched. My arms extended into the air and I yawned loudly.

This was all part of my evil plan.

With my arms in the air I snatched the glasses, (Which wasn't that hard, there were no lenses) and lo and behold, Naoki.

"Do you work here or something?" Kakashi asked, glancing from me to the glasses back and forth.

"No" Naoki said, placing our plates on the table and running back to the kitchen.

"Is she always like that?" Kakashi inquired, watching the door swing back and forth.

"More or less" I said, stabbing some lettuce.

We ate in silence.

It wasn't that awkward, 'no idea what to say' kind of silences. It was more like one of those comfortable 'don't need to talk cause there's nothing to say' silences.

I loved those silences; it was relaxing.

I munched on my salad loudly, waiting for the moment I could steal some of Kakashi's ribs.

They looked so yummy. This is exactly why I eat stuff I cook at home, when you go out, there are options, and I can never choose.

Kakashi cut the slab of ribs in half then stopped sawing at the meat.

I raised an eyebrow.

Was he going to eat it like that?

Somehow I didn't think it was possible.

Kakashi took one half and moved it to my plate (Because they had given me a plate even though I was technically eating a salad).

I stared at it like it was some holy being.

"You kept on staring" Kakashi explained.

"Not many men would give up ribs" I commented, still staring.

"Yeah, well, it's kinda creepy when all the other person does is stare at the ribs like it's some rare jungle specimen" Kakashi said calmly.

I chuckled nervously.

I realized something then. He noticed I was staring at the meat, as in he was watching me.

Which, I suppose, wouldn't have been to weird if I was sane, we were sitting across from each other, so if he stared ahead I'd be there.

"It's kinda creepy when someone notices" I retorted.

Kakashi chuckled softly.

"Touché" He agreed.

I picked up my iced ice, sloshing some of it onto my hand in the process.

"To being kinda creepy" I toasted.

"Kind of creepy" Kakashi agreed, grabbing his glass and knocking it into mine with a loud CLINK.

That one attracted some attention and a few middle-aged ladies whispered something to their companions while giving us a dirty look.

I scratched the back of head nervously.

"The old people are giving us dirty glares" I whispered, making it seem like it was some big deal that they didn't like me.

It wasn't.

I could care less what they think, provided I'm enjoying what I'm going is all that matters and I was having a good time.

"Correction: They're giving youdirty glares" Kakashi quipped, leaning back contentedly in his chair.

I stuck my tongue out at him before starting to eat again.

Kakashi finished eating way before I did.

Seriously, the man could win some kind of pie eating contest if he wanted; he ate freakishly fast.

On our way out, after we had paid (I would never not pay), on of the older ladies corned us.

Literally, we walked past a corner and she pretty much trapped us just by walking up.

"Kakashi Hatake, right?" She asked, staring up at him with an earnest, confused expression.

I felt sympathy for her.

I know how annoying it was to stand near Kakashi cause he was so darned tall.

Kakashi nodded slowly, as if he was afraid of what was going to happen.

I didn't see the big deal, she was just an old lady.

On second thought her handbag looked like it was loaded with a brick or two.

The ladies expression lit up instantly.

"Oh my, how you've grown!" She gushed.

I raised an eyebrow and glanced up at the older kunochi. He looked just as perplexed as I was.

"Yeah….." Kakashi said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. I was pretty much brushing against his arm because there was so little space.

But did the old lady notice?

No, she just kept on staring at Kakashi like an overly proud grandmother.

"You look so much like your father!" She exclaimed.

Kakashi tensed up then and there. He was like cardboard stiff. I frowned, confused. I had never really heard much about Kakashi's past, although now I was starting to wonder. I made a mental note to ask him about it later.

The lady turned to me and I cringed inwardly, preparing for torture that only an old lady could ever know how to do.

"Oh, and who is this fine young lady" She asked sweetly, turning back to Kakashi.

Kakashi still seemed a little uncomfortable after the father comment so I jumped in.

"I'm his date for the evening" I explained, wrapping my arm around his and tugging it towards the door slightly.

The lady opened her mouth to say something more but Kakashi intervened, "If you don't mind, we're running late" He offered, allowing me to pull him outside.

"So, who was she?" I asked in a tone implying I didn't really care.

"I have no idea," Kakashi admitted.

I nodded slowly.

I really hated it when some random old person would walk up to you and comment on how, and I quote, 'How big you've gotten' and then, once they've left, you're left wondering who the hell that was.

I still wanted to ask about his father, but it didn't seem like the right moment.

Apparently we had been in the restaurant for so long that the sun had actually gone down.

"Next time, I'm picking the restaurant" I informed him, still dragging him along.

"Sure" Kakashi said, sounding like he could care less.

Somehow, I have no idea how, we ended up sitting on the roof of the academy and just kinda staring at the expansive sky. This was the time to ask.

"Hey Kakashi?" I asked slowly, unsure of how exactly I was going to word it.

"Hm?" He replied, stretching out his legs in front of him.

"When that old lady mentioned your father" I paused, thinking what I was going to say over, "You kinda froze up….."

I left it at that. I hoped that he could actually catch the unsaid question and explain.

"I take it you want to know why?" He inquired. His tone sounded so dull it creeped me out.

I nodded earnestly.

Kakashi heaved a sigh.

"Alright then" He said, inhaling deeply before inhaling, "When I was younger, my father went off on a mission, I don't remember what exactly he was doing, but it was really important, but his teammates were captured. My father…he put the village at risk by going back to save them"

-I nodded, understanding his father's logic. I would never be able to leave a teammate behind.-

"Thanks to that he became the shame of Konoha" He continued.

I cringed, harsh. I didn't interrupt though, I wanted to hear the rest of the story out.

"It wasn't fun, being the son of the shame of the village, so I slowly began to dislike my father. Eventually, I don't think he could take it anymore"

-I frowned, waiting for what I knew would come.-

"He killed himself," Kakashi said this softly, sadly.

I edged closer to him and wrapped him arm around his waist. "I'm sorry" I murmured softly.

I couldn't even to begin to imagine how hard that must've been.

I rested my head against the chest, which was somewhat uncomfortable because we were both sitting up.

"Can I ask one last question?" I asked, tilting my head away from Kakashi's chest slightly so I could peer up at him.

"Besides that one, you mean" Kakashi pointed out. I nodded slightly.

"Fire away" Kakashi told me.

"Earlier today, you went to the old memorial thing, right?" I asked.

Kakashi nodded.

"Why?" I felt a little weird prying like this. This seemed like the right way to hear it though. Straight from the horses mouth as they say.

"You asked two, but I'll explain anyway" said Kakashi slowly. I waited patiently for his explanation.

"My team and I were chosen to fight in the war" I cringed, I had a few vague memories of my parents mentioning that. Not a pleasant time.

"One of them was captured, her name was Rin, and we went back to save her. In the process however, I lost use of my left eye"

I pursed my lips, so that was why he wore the headband that way.

"And my other teammate, Obito Uchiha, got injured saving both me and Rin. As his dying gift he gave me his eye"

I quirked an eyebrow a little bit. An eye? You're dying, so you give your friend your eye? Well, who knows, maybe it was special.

"Wait!" I cried, piecing it together at last.

"Copy ninja" I muttered, "Sharingan?"

He nodded.

"Why cover it?" I inquired, poking the headband with the arm that wasn't wrapped around him.

"It uses a lot of chakra" He explained.

"Sorry about your friend" I muttered, feeling it was important thing to say.

Kakashi draped his arm around my shoulder absentmindedly.

I realized another thing then. That was probably where he went every day, which would be why he was late all the time.

"Wonder what time it is" I commented after a few minutes of silence.

"Late enough" he replied calmly.

I pulled away from Kakashi.

His arm fell back to his side almost instantly.

I stood up slowly, stretching my arms towards the stars.

There is one minor problem with standing on a slanted roof while stretching.

One of my ankles buckled in and I went tumbling backwards. Towards the cold, hard, dirt-covered ground. Well, if I didn't die, I'd break a few bones at least.

My life never had the chance to flash before my eyes.

Kakashi was up in an instant, arm shooting out to grab my flailing ones.

He managed to clasp my forearm and haul me back up.

"You alright?" He asked, looking at my ankle in concern.

"Well, aside from my pride, my ankle is kind of sore" I commented.

"Does it hurt to move your foot" He inquired.

Why does everyone seem to know more about medical crap than I do? It was starting to tick me off.

None the less I obeyed, moving my foot.

"Only a little" I admitted.

Kakashi still had a firm grip on my forearm, I felt a slight blush creep onto my cheeks.

Oh, come on!

Since when had I cared about this crap?

Kakashi said something, but I busy trying to mentally slap the blush away.

Not easy to do my friend, not easy.

"Akiko!" Kakashi said loudly.

"Heh?" I inquired blankly.

"Can you put pressure on it" He was talking so slowly that I wondered how many times he had repeated it.

I tried, but winced and moaned at the same time.

It wasn't that painful, but it did feel somewhat like I had managed to stab my ankle with a sewing needle….if it were even possible.

"So walking's a no" Kakashi muttered.

"What're we going to do 'bout this one?" I inquired, scratching my arm with fury. It was crazy itchy and was really starting to tick me off.

"I'll carry you, I guess" Kakashi decided.

He turned around and crouched down slightly. Oh, sure, he doesn't fall.

"Piggyback!" I exclaimed, clambering onto his back.

Kakashi grunted as I hit his back. Oh, come on, I'm not _that_ heavy.

I draped my arms around his neck loosely, and he looped his arms under my knees.

Okay, probably the creepiest things to realize while being carried piggyback by someone is that they smelled like outdoors.

In a nice way, not that "I'm a hobo' kind of outside, more like 'I go camping a lot' kind.

Sadly, I noticed.

I rested my head against Kakashi's cheek and let a content sigh.

Oh, not walking, it was a sweet joy.

"Don't fall asleep," Kakashi warned sternly.

My eyes were half-closed by the time he said that.

Damn him and his apparently psychic abilities.

"'ma awake" I muttered drowsily.

Sure, as soon as he mentions it I'm tired.

Why is that?

Why I ask you?

Kakashi pretty much dropped me onto my lawn when we got back.

Okay, so he really did drop me on the lawn.

"Curse you!" I cried while shaking my fist at him.

"You can walk yourself into the house" Kakashi said with a nod.

"See ya tomorrow jackass" I said the last little bit under my breathe, just in case he decided that he was going to take offense to my name-calling for once.

"Put some ice on your foot" He said before giving a curt nod and disappearing into the night.

I sighed and stood up, putting my weight onto my un-injured foot.

First on my newly planned to-do list: Get into the house. Then I would find some ice.

I limped towards the door, feeling like an old person.

Getting over the doorstop thinger was a challenge. I'm not talented with using only one foot.

I heard pacing as soon as I entered the house.

I rolled my eyes.

It was probably just my uncle waiting for me to come home.

The person was not my uncle. No, not at all.

Well, not unless my uncle had gotten a sex change and plastic surgery before I had last seen him.

Naoki threw her hands in the air as soon as she saw me.

"Ohmigod!" Naoki cried, looking panicked.

I blinked, trying to figure out how she had gotten into the house.

"I swear! I only closed my eyes for a minute!" She exclaimed in panic.

"Naoki, could you get to the point?" I inquired wearily. My ankle was starting to really hurt.

Naoki nodded and inhaled deeply.

"I was riding a horse and playing my picalo, and my eyes were only closed for a minute and" Naoki took another breath. She was talking like super-speed, so I saw why.

Still, she could at least get to the point.

"'Ko, your uncle….he's in the hospital."

* * *

**Evil cliffhanger, eh? Yeah, yeah, I'll try to update as fast as I can...see, I can read your minds!**

**'Kay, so, yeah...you know R&R and crap...**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	22. Subtle Hint

**Well, I've taken my own sweet time in updating, and for that I'm sorry. I had a rather nasty case of writers block, and I kinda still do. I know where the story's going, but the random parts along the way are tricky. But I digress, I shan't keep from reading any longer.**

* * *

My injured ankle forgotten I raced to the hospital with Naoki leading. It's amazing how one attack of fear, panic, and concern for someone's well being could make something like a ankle in dire need of ice to be forgotten. The moment I felt the whoosh of the sliding doors of the hospital open, Naoki was off and running. Where, exactly, I don't know. When I found the room my uncle was in the nurses wouldn't let me in to see him.

"He's in intensive care, you have to wait until he wakes up" The nurse informed me solemnly.

The problem was I had no real idea what had happened.

I stumbled down the waiting room, more out of shock than my ankle, still conveniently forgotten.

There were three or four men dressed in all black seated in the chairs like they had lived here most of their lives. Naoki was sitting next to one, making animated hand gestures. I kind figured it out that Naoki knew everyone.

I pursed my lips.

Only one way to know what had happened.

Of course, worry was wearing me out.

I inhaled deeply. This was no time to act like a little girl. I had to be a man. Which I could do well enough, dare I say.

I placed my hand on my hips in a determined manner.

"Alright, can someone besides my idiotic friend" –I jerked a thumb towards Naoki- "Tell me what exactly happened?"

One of the men looked up slowly from the apparent thumb war he was having with himself. I ignored it.

It's not like it's something I haven't done, I'm a tough opponent to beat.

"Well, I'm not totally sure" he admitted.

Straight to the point I suppose.

"You see, we were riding down the streets of Konoha to see the Hokage, when I stopped to check out the-" the man caught himself from saying something like 'checking on the hot chick on the side of the road', and continued, "checking out the flowers at the store." He seemed rather proud of his excuse.

"But Harry! We never went by a flower shop!" Another one of the men protested.

"Shut up Larry!" Harry snapped.

Harry composed himself before continuing, "Well, anyway I was checking out the ho- flowers, yes flowers, and then, the next thing I knew your –whatever he is to you- was laying on the ground, trampled by a horse."

I cringed. Ouch.

That did nothing to calm my fears.

Another man clad in black raised his hand.

"I would like to speak" he requested politely.

"Go ahead Tarry" Naoki urged.

I glanced between the three men that I knew the names of; Harry, Larry, and Tarry.

They all rhymed.

I glanced at the still unnamed man.

He wore a mask that was similar to Kakashi's but was loose, and his hood was thrown over his head, casting shadows against his face.

His could be like, Barry or something.

Tarry stood up, stretching.

"Well, actually I didn't see what had happened" Tarry admitted.

I frowned.

Did no one actually see my uncle before they ran him over?

I knew Naoki had a tendency to close her eyes while playing any musical instrument, but everyone else could've at least had a decent reason.

Tarry sat back down after his big reveal.

"You?" I asked, peering at the hooded man. I had no hope for Larry.

"What kind of idiot stands in the middle of the road, holding a bag of corn, saying 'Oh no, oh no, oh God no' while horses head towards him?" He asked blandly, crossing his arms. There was humor under that layer of annoyance, but it in the current situation humor was rather hard to notice.

I nodded numbly. Just by hearing that one thing I knew my uncles chances of surviving were pretty slim.

I sighed and sank down into the nearest chair, running a hand through my hair.

"I would stay" Naoki said slowly, cringing as though she feared my wrath,

"But I've got to take Harry, Tarry, Larry, and Ted"

–I stifled back a giggle. The man's name was Ted? I could swear it would be like Barry or something. Hehe.-

"To see the Hokage."

Considering that as good of a goodbye as any, Naoki silently ushered everyone out of the room. I

heaved a heavy sigh and though of what I was going to do next.

I wanted to stay in the hospital for night, but a minor issue of food and smell kept me from choosing that.

Seriously the food is crap, and there are old people.

Old people that smell like soap, disinfectants, and random other crap.

It creeped me out.

I wandered out of the room, bravely ignoring my now swollen ankle.

On my quest to find the doctor I got lost twice, ended up where I started three times, and found the right place once.

"How is he?" I asked softly as a nurse left the room.

She shook her head sadly, "Not to well."

My face morphed into a frown.

I had a feeling, but still, it hurt to hear.

"Tell me when he wakes up?" I inquired politely.

"How shall I contact you?" She asked.

I was struck by the oddness of how sudden this conversation had taken a turn from being just that normal hospital talk to formal.

"Eh, I'll be around- Better yet ask Iruka, or Naoki, actually just ask the leader of a ninja team, they'll probably know" I offered.

She nodded, jotting it down in a little notebook thing. It was that or her diary. Either one worked.

I ambled out of the hospital, become very aware of how dark it was.

I blinked, trying to adjust my eyes to the darkness.

It didn't work too well, seeing as how I stumbled half-blind in the direction I believed my house to be in

. Technically I ended up in front of a house, but it wasn't mine.

I frowned thoughtfully.

I knew I could break in, my weary mind couldn't take much of the strain of staying awake.

Instead of breaking in I did the smart, reasonable thing. I walked straight up to the house and rapped my fist against the door.

I winced slightly.

I was leaning more on my other ankle, and I couldn't support my own weight much longer.

The door opened slowly, and Kakashi stuck his head out. He pulled open the rest of the door.

"May I ask why you're stopping by my place so late?" He inquired with a tilt of his head.

"Can I come in first?" I asked, trying to shift my feet into a comfortable position before I fell.

"Fine" He sighed, stepping out of the way.

I put one foot in front of the other, taking a tentative step on my sore ankle. So far so good.

I lifted my leg to take another step, but in doing so I fell forward.

I let out a startled squeak as my face got closer to the hardwood.

Then I stopped falling.

I blinked.

I cast a glance down towards my waist.

Kakashi's arm was planted firmly around my waist, keeping me from falling.

"I thought I told you to put ice on that" Kakashi commented, hauling me back into a standing position.

I frowned, rubbing the back of my neck.

"I was kind of….busy" I said sadly.

"Busy with what?" Kakashi asked.

My frown deepened.

I was afraid to actually talk about, I wasn't about to start crying in front of him.

"I don't want to talk about it" I huffed.

Kakashi seemingly sensed that if he had pressed further I would've punched him, and left it alone.

Smart man.

"C'mon" Kakashi sighed, "I'll go get some ice."

Kakashi kept his arm around my waist so I wouldn't fall as he led me to the kitchen and let me sit down on a chair.

I glanced around the room. It was almost as messy as the last the time I was there.

The man was a pig. It had been what, two days since I went on the cleaning spree.

It was almost as bad for the floor was still somewhat visible, and most of the counter remained unscathed.

"Two days!" I cried in astonishment. Kakashi chuckled as he rummaged through his freezer.

"I haven't had much time to clean lately" He reminded me. "Aha!" He added pulling out a tray of ice.

I pursed my lips, wondering what was in there that would take it so long to find.

I frowned as my thoughts drifted back to my uncle. I wasn't going to be walking any long distances if my ankle was so sore I fell over.

I really hoped he was going to be okay, and, in all honesty, the prospect of otherwise scared me

. He was the closet thing to a parent I had, and the thought of losing the one family member I was close to hurt. It hurt more than I liked to admit.

"Something wrong?" Kakashi's voice broke into my thoughts.

I blinked, forcing back tears. Kakashi was kneeling in front of me, a bag of ice wrapped in a towel in one hand, the other lifting up my foot.

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine" I said dismissive once I realized he had asked me something.

He gave me a glance of utter disbelief before slowly removing my shoe.

"Oww" I moaned slightly as he pulled off my sock.

"It's swollen" Kakashi commented, staring at my foot.

I leaned forward to observe my foot.

I couldn't help but notice it was rather large compared to my feet's normal size.

"You don't say" I agreed dryly.

Kakashi placed the ice on my foot and I let out a content sigh.

That felt much better.

He let my foot fall to the floor slowly, making sure the ice bag was going to stay before he moved.

"Now" he said, clapping his hands briskly, "Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or am I going to have to find out later, from someone else."

I narrowed my eyes.

How did he know something was wrong?

I was going to have to make something up. Oh, yes, lie to the person who writes your paycheck, smart move.

"Can I stay here for a few days?" I blurted out.

I gasped and covered my mouth. Not exactly what I was planning on saying, but okay.

"Something wrong with your house?" Kakashi asked, seating himself at the table.

"No" I shook my head.

Kakashi tilted his head curiously.

"Is it my charm?" He asked jokingly.

I threw him a withering look, "Oh yes, I am madly in love with your charm."

Kakashi chuckled, then his expression became somber after seeing my look of seriousness, "So, what is it?"

I sighed; I was going to, dare I say, tell the truth.

"My uncles in the hospital, and your place is closer" I explained.

"What happened?"

"Uhm, he was kind, uhm, run over by horses" I explained, cringing when I said it

. "Ah, is he going to be okay?" "I don't really know, I wasn't allowed to see him" I stared down at my hands, forcing back the tears again.

I heard the scraping of Kakashi's chair as he stood up and walked over to me.

"He'll be fine" Kakashi said, ruffling my hair.

I couldn't help but believe him a little, he spoke so surely, so confidently.

"So, I can stay?" I inquired hopefully.

"Provided you don't light my house on fire, you can stay upstairs" He said.

I smiled gratefully.

He glanced at my ankle.

"Although I wouldn't recommend going upstairs anytime soon" He muttered.

"Oh, I'll manage!" I assured him, grabbing the ice bag of my foot and hobbling my way towards the stairs.

"I'm going to go bed!" I called.

"I can see that!" Kakashi called back, sounding bored.

I shrugged and slowly made my way up the stairs

. It took longer than normal, and by the time I was in the bedroom, my eyes were drifting shut as I walked.

I was about to flop down on the bed when I noticed a small white object jutting out from underneath.

I crouched down slightly, pulling said object out. I doubled over with giggles as I realized what it was.

It was a sewing machine.

Kakashi knew how to sew.

I was going to have to subtly hint at that over the next few days.

I sat on the floor, staring at while chuckled for a few moments.

You know what, screw it, I was going to bother him now.

I stood up, trying to hop on one foot down the stairs.

Remember my rant about Kakashi cracking his head after tripping on a sock?

Well, I found truth in my theory.

About the forth step down, (Remember, I was hoping on one foot) my foot landed on a sock, and I lost my footing. I went flying forward.

For a moment I felt all Matrix-y as I fell. I landed with a sickening thump at the foot of the stairs.

"You okay?" Kakashi's amused voice rang out from the kitchen.

"I tripped on a sock!" I complained, "I could've cracked my head open!"

"Did you?" Kakashi sounded rather uninterested

. I frowned, for one, it was mean, and two, no, I didn't.

"I'm sore, but fine" I informed him, rolling over and sitting up.

I crinkled my nose in confusion.

Why did my hand feel all wet?

I glanced down.

Oh, right.

I was still holding the ice bag, and, in my falling moment, the bag had broken.

I managed to stand up, limp to the sink, and throw the bag into it.

I turned my head towards Kakashi.

He was sitting at the kitchen table, book open in one hand as he held in front of his face. His other hand was resting on the table.

"Reading your perverted books again, eh?" I quipped.

"They're not perverted" Kakashi protested, "They're dramatic and enthralling."

"Yeah, and I'm a genie," I said sarcastically.

"Oh, really now?" Kakashi inquired, flipping a page of the book with on flick of his thumb.

I leant on the sink to keep myself from falling over.

We lapsed into a comfortable silence, one that I knew I had to break.

"Hey, Kakashi?" I inquired politely. He glanced up, obviously concerned by my nice, sweet tone.

"Hm?" He responded warily.

Yes, that's right, be afraid, be very afraid.

"You see, the other day I ripped a hole into one of my purses, and I was wondering if you knew anyone who could sew. It doesn't matter who, provided they can sew or, you know, use a sewing machine"

I grinned as Kakashi's eye widened slightly. This was too easy.

I continued rambling, trying to fit the word sewing in as much as possible.

"You found it, didn't you?" Kakashi asked, hiding his face with one of his hands.

"Bet your bottom dollar I did" I said with a confident nod.

I giggled. "Ah-heh-heh, you can sew!" I teased.

"It has ninja purposes!" Kakashi insisted.

"Name two!" I challenged.

Kakashi faltered a moment, before regaining whatever composure he had left.

"I could kill you, you can't run" He threatened.

I pointed a finger at him accusingly.

"Bloody murder!" I screamed.

Kakashi rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to his book.

I hobbled behind him, resting my elbows on his shoulder's and placing my head by his cheek so I could read what was on the page.

"So, what exactly is going on?" I inquired, with a subtle nod towards to book.

"None of your business" Kakashi replied, smacking my face with the open book.

"No fair!" I moaned, "Hit the cripple!"

Kakashi shook his head slowly before returning his attention to the book. I rolled my eyes.

Stupid book.

I looked around the room, looking for something to do.

A small box on his counter caught my eye. I picked it up, examining it like it was a treasure.

Actually, it was a movie rental, but it's just as good.

Kakashi, who had seemingly noticed I was being uncharacteristically silent, had glanced up from his book.

"You want to watch it?" Kakashi asked.

"What is it?" I asked, weighing the movie case loftily in my hand.

"No idea" Kakashi replied with a shrug.

"And yet you rented it" I said slowly. Even I know what movie I'm getting when I rent one.

Kakashi nodded.

"Stupid" I muttered.

I flipped it over and read the rating on the back.

_'Rated R for Language, violence, scary scenes, and suggestive themes'_.

I grinned. Sounds like my type of movie.

"Let's watch it!" I decided loudly.

Kakashi shrugged which in Kakashi talk probably meant 'sure'.

So, still limping, I sauntered to the living room and knelt down in front of the DVD player.

Kakashi went back into the kitchen, muttering something about popcorn.

I jabbed my finger into the open button and waited.

Nothing.

I tried again.

Still nothing.

So, I attempted it one more time.

No flicker of life, no nothing.

"Kakashi!" I moaned, "You're DVD player isn't working!"

"Did you try turning it on?" Kakashi asked, making it sound like something I would normally do.

I pursed my lips angrily and pressed the power button.

A little blue light went up in the corner of the box.

Grumbling angrily, I hit the open button. I smirked slightly as the tray slid out. I placed the movie in and walked over to the couch, which still had laundry on it.

I heaved a sigh as I threw aside some articles of clothing.

One day he was going to end up dying in his own laundry, I'd bet my job on it.

A picture flickered onto the screen.

It was one of those stupid FBI warnings that no one could ever read cause they flash by so fast and it's so I think their plan is too keep it there so no one can claim they didn't know, but they make it impossible for people to be able to read it, so they can still make money from the dumb-asses who try to copy it.

The menu screen appeared suddenly. It was one of those super flashy ones with a background video, and like two other smaller ones in opposite corners.

The background video had a blue-ish over-dramatic tint to it. Loud music came from the speakers. The music was the sort that would chill you to the bone if you tried to listen to it, like actually listen.

"I'm going to start the movie!" I exclaimed, looking for the remote.

My shoulder's slumped as I realized that this was Kakashi's place, and the remote was probably buried under the couch cushion.

Kakashi's footsteps emerged from the kitchen.

"So much for starting it, eh?" He commented, placing a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Well, if I knew where the remote was" I began irritably.

Kakashi chuckled in agreement.

"Point taken."

Instead of sitting down Kakashi walked over in front of the TV and nudged the play button with his foot.

"That was too easy!" I protested.

"Would you rather search for the remote for half-an-hour?" Kakashi reminded me as he sat down.

"Well, it would've been more fun than your method" I informed him childishly.

"Shhhh" Kakashi said, clamping a hand over my mouth, "The movie's starting."

I pursed my lips in irritation. He still wasn't moving his hand.

Using the same technique I used a while ago on one my first missions with Team 7.

I stuck my tongue out and licked his hand. He yanked it away quickly and shook it off.

"God, you're disgusting. Now shut up and watch the movie."

I frowned slightly, again acting like a child. But, because it was my idea to watch the movie, I shut up.

The last movie I saw was terrifying, but this was ten times worse.

Almost half of the movie was filled with either cussing, blood, or suspenseful waiting, wondering who was going to kick the bucket next.

I let out a grateful sigh as for once in the movie the music, suspense, and exhilaration of the entire thing stopped.

I frowned, wondering if I had been breathing at all.

In a weird way I love horror movies, the sheer thrill of being freaked out of your wits. The adrenaline every time something popped up out of nowhere and made you scream like a little girl.

But, at the same time, I hated them. Every once and a whole I would see a movie so terrifying that it would keep me from sleeping, either due to fear, or the giddiness that comes from being afraid of nothing.

I reached out to grab the popcorn.

"I wouldn't do that, there's going to be a-" Kakashi began.

I paid him no heed and picked up the bowl.

BAM!

Some random sadistic psychopathic killer appeared on the screen, accompanied by a loud banging noise.

"Eek!" I screamed in horror, letting the popcorn bowl go flying.

"Pop-up" Kakashi finished dryly, picking a kernel of popcorn out of his hair.

"Sorry" I muttered, grinning sheepishly.

"It's fine" Kakashi sighed, picking another piece out of his hair.

I glanced down at the bowl.

"At least there's still some popcorn left," I said.

But, because of that fact this event reoccurred about three more times throughout the course of the movie.

I let out a huge sigh when the movie finished.

"You know, I think I held my breath most of the movie" I informed Kakashi, who laughed.

He stood up, brushing some more kernels from his shirt.

"If you'll excuse me I have to get the popcorn out of my hair" Kakashi wandered off towards the room I believed was the bathroom.

I stood up and reached my arms upward, arching my back.

Ah, stretching felt nice.

Kakashi emerged from the bathroom a few moments later.

"Alright, I think I've got it all out" He told me seriously.

I observed his hair carefully, making sure he was right.

A small kernel caught my eye. It was resting upon one of the spikes.

"Wait, wait" I said, "You missed one."

I stood on my tiptoes, reaching up and flicking it off.

"Got it!" I exclaimed in triumph.

I smiled at Kakashi before something sunk in.

On my tiptoes I was able to actually look Kakashi straight in the eye

. Our faces were so close our breaths mingled and tickled my lips.

I gulped.

Just one inch and- no, no I wasn't going to think that.

Unfortunately, well maybe, Kakashi was thinking the same thing.

He closed the one-inch gap between us and pressed his lips against mine.

Oh, oh God.

This wasn't right.

He was kissing me!

Technically he was my boss, this wasn't supposed to happen!

Oh crap, oh crap.

It only lasted a second and it was through his mask, but I felt the heat rise to my cheeks all the same.

When Kakashi pulled away I sank back onto my feet and he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for" He apologized.

"Yeah, yeah it was!" I huffed, folding my arms over my chest.

I wasn't sure why, but I couldn't help this inward feeling of elatedness.

"I'm, uh, going to, you know, go hit the hay," I said quickly before scampering off up the stairs.

It took me hours to fall asleep, although it wasn't the normal post-horror-movie sleeping problem.

This was a different problem entirely.

I mean, the man voluntarily kissed me.

I should be shunning him, feeling disgusted, not giddy.

I mean, what was wrong with me?!

I didn't feel that way about him- did I?

I buried my head into the pillow.

Ugh, feelings. They were so complicated.

Damn it!

I heaved a sigh.

No point in worrying about it, I was seriously freaked about my uncle being in the hospital, I didn't need to add that to the pile.

Besides, he seemed somewhat embarrased about the whole thing himself, I wasn't going to be all cold and mean to him, that would be cruel.

Again though, why did I still feel somewhat happy.

If it had been anyone else I would've been disgusted, or annoyed, or laughing my ass off (Y'know, if it turned out to be some complete moron), not happy.

I wasn't….falling for Kakashi, was I?

* * *

** I swear I had no idea bout the kiss until after I wrote it. i think my computer like possess me every once and a while and makes me write this stuff.**

**On another note, I'm really bored, and I need a nap, but I'm not having one.**

**Well, I'll update eventually, so wait till then!**

**R&R, I'll give you a hug if you do.**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	23. Mr McEmo

**Just a warning, this is a very short, pointless chapter that is only there to advance slightly with the plot. Nothing really happens.**

**I'm not proud of it, I just had to get this part outta the way, some stuff is planned for later though...WOO! Planned fluff!**

"Good morning." Kakashi said cheerfully, apparently trying to act like nothing had happened between us the previous day.

This was fine by me, as until I skipped into the kitchen had forgotten about last night. It came back like a tidal wave, making me freeze up.

"Something wrong?" Kakashi inquired. I shook my head, forcing back any odd feelings in the pit of my stomach.

"No, no I'm fine" I said, my voice an octave higher than it should be.

"Suuure" Kakashi said, rolling his eyes.

I found myself completely unable to look him in eye without my heartbeat speeding up massively, or my face turning a shade of tomato red. Kakashi seemed to have the same problem, although his gaze was focusing somewhere lower. I ignored it, if it got worse I would slap him. For now, at least, I was just going to be thankful I was wearing a shirt. I bit my lower lip awkwardly.

"Soo…what's on our plate for today? Harassing Naruto, perchance?" I guessed hopefully.

One of my favorite pastimes.

"We have to go see Tsunade, but that's about it for today" Kakashi informed me.

I pouted.

No harassing Naruto? That's no fun.

"Breakfast" I cheered suddenly, walking past Kakashi, still somewhat limping, to the fridge.

I yanked the door open then gasped in shock. It was almost empty.

Seriously, there was like nothing! I salvaged an apple from a little pullout box and bit into it as I closed the fridge.

Once breakfast was out of the way, Kakashi and I headed off to go find the rest of Team 7.

"How's your ankle feeling?" Kakashi inquired as we stood outside of the Uchiha compound.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, sore, but I'll survive."

Kakashi nodded, accepting my answer

. Finding Sasuke's place took longer than either of us had expected. I doubt any of you have seen the size of it, but really, it was huge.

I was at a loss to figure out how Sasuke lived there alone, because Kakashi and I managed to get ourselves lost at least twice.

"Wait wait!" I exclaimed suddenly. Kakashi paused and turned to look at me.

"I have an idea!" I said dramatically.

Kakashi shrugged. "Go ahead."

"SAS-UKE!" I hollered loudly.

Kakashi winced and covered his ears. "Geez, loud enough?" He muttered.

I grinned brightly. I could've been much louder.

When Sasuke didn't even show up, I made the decision to go leave Kakashi to find Sasuke while I went to track down Naruto and Sakura.

I ambled over to the apartments where Naruto lived. There were some scary kids in there. One person had on makeup, like clown-ish makeup, and a nose piercing. I refused to let myself make eye contact with any of them.

After a few minutes of questioning I found Naruto's room.

I banged on the door.

"Mmmphhf?" Naruto's voice asked through the door.

"Naruto, open the door, it's Akiko" I called.

"Mmmpphhhh!" Naruto's voice mumbled in protest.

"I'm coming in!" I informed him boldly.

"Mmmpphh!" He mumbled loudly. I twisted the doorknob and walked in

. Naruto was lying facedown on the bed, his face buried in the pillows.

"C'mon lazybones, wake up, we've got some kind of mission to hear about" I exclaimed, walking over to the bed and pulling the blankets off.

Naruto sat up grudgingly, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Hmmm…" I said, observing his sleepwear, "I never thought you'd be the boxer type."

Naruto's face turned pink. He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came was some kind of gargled noise.

I really did think he'd be the type to wear boxers.

"Meet me outside in five minutes" I said before walking outside, leaving Naruto to get ready.

I spent six minutes standing outside, trying to ignore all the scary kids. Seriosuly, teenagers were very scary people.

Yeah, I was one at some point in time, and I know I was scary. At least I admit to it, if you walked up and called a teenager scary they'd probably say something like 'screw off' instead of 'Yeah, thanks for noticing'.

Okay, so I may not have said the last one either.

But I wouldn't have been that rude.

Naruto ran out, wearing his normal orange jumpsuit. I winced at its brightness.

I'll never get why a ninja would wear bright orange. Wearing orange and then trying to sneak through a forest just doesn't work.

"Next up, Sakura!" I exclaimed.

"We have to go to Sakura's house?" Naruto asked nervously. So the little twit did have a crush.

"Yeah, Kakashi's lost somewhere in the Uchiha compound" I explained, smirking a little.

I could find Naruto's and Sakura's place, but Kakashi was pretty much going to be 'lost on the road of life' for a while.

"You're kidding" Naruto gasped.

"Oh, c'mon" I flashed a cheesy smile, "Would this face lie to you?"

Naruto looked down. "I can't answer that truthfully," He admitted.

I shrugged and started walking.

What did I care if Naruto didn't believe me? He was a ninja with very little care for his looks. Again, bright orange jumpsuit.

Sakura was awake when we stopped by her place.

So, off we went to see the Hokage.

"Good morning Tsunade" I chirped as we walked in.

"Good morning" She replied with a grin.

"Where's Kakashi and Sasuke?" She asked, trying to peer around us.

"Well" I began, "Last time I saw Kakashi he was wandering around the Uchiha compound."

Tsunade chuckled. "So, this'll take a while."

I nodded simply. We waited in silence for a few moments.

"So…." I said slowly, unsure of what say.

"Sooo" Sakura said in agreement.

"Kakashi's always late" Naruto moaned. I said nothing, namely because I knew why he was late most of the time.

This time was somewhat amusing though. I mean, someone getting lost never fails to amuse me.

Eventually Kakashi came in, flicking a wave to us, with Sasuke trailing behind.

"We're all here" Kakashi informed Tsunade.

"We can see that!" I huffed.

"Someone's cranky" Sasuke muttered to himself.

"Damn straight" I said in agreement.

Sasuke gave me an odd look, with one eyebrow raised more than the other and a puzzled smirk on his face.

"I have a mission for you" Tsunade began.

We all listened dutifully, waiting to hear our assignment.

"You are to go to the sand village and look after Gaara's pet canary while he goes away for a week."

Kakashi shrugged. "Sounds fine to me."

I shook my head, "I can't go" I stated simply.

My uncle was still in the hospital, I wasn't about to leave.

It didn't seem right for me to leave.

"Why not?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Well, my uncle is in the hospital, and I don't know how bad of a condition he's in" I said, my voice trailing off at the end.

"He'll be fine!" Naruto promised.

"I don't know Naruto" I bit my lip softly.

"Oh, please come!" Naruto begged.

"I don't want to be the only girl again!" Sakura moaned.

"So, only Sasuke and Kakashi remain indifferent about this I see" I commented.

"Actually" Kakashi began.

I groaned, knowing that majority ruled and that I was screwed.

"I could use some extra help."

Then I was literally bombarded with pleads about me joining them.

"Ugh, fine!" I threw my hands up in the air was a sign I gave in, "I'll come, now just shut up will you!"

I paused before grinning slightly. "Although, it is rather nice to know that most of you value my company so much."

"Hey! I never said that!" Kakashi threw his hands in the air in protest, "I just don't want to be stuck alone with these three!"

"What's wrong with us?!" Sakura and Naruto and Sasuke asked in unison. I

laughed softly. "When are we leaving?" I inquired.

"In three, maybe four hours" Kakashi informed me.

"Four hours!" Sakura exclaimed in horror.

"Yeah, Kakashi, we women need time to pack for one week" I said, my nose crinkled in extreme seriousness.

"Well, considering I'm packing the tents and the things we need to survive for three days on the road.

I blinked.

Three days?

Three days with Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi.

I could see why Kakashi didn't want to go by himself.

"I'm going to go pack" Sasuke said coldly, stalking out.

"What's Mr. Mc-emo's problem?" I asked, tilting my head to the side slightly.

"He has" Naruto paused thoughtfully, "Sand village issues."

I quirked an eyebrow.

Sand village issues?

Like what, phobia of sand?

Oh, if it were, I'd laugh. I'd laugh meanly.

"You'll see" Kakashi said, herding us out of the room like sheep.

We went our separate ways to pack. I ambled back to my place, limped up the stairs and found the same bag I had used on my previous mission under the bed.

I think I shoved it there, but I don't know.

Either way I started packing. I had packed some pajamas and a pair of shorts before moving on to the underwear department of my dresser.

I picked out my four bras at random.

"You gonna take much longer?" A voice inquired from behind me.

I squeaked and jumped, letting the bra's go flying behind me. I wheeled around.

Kakashi was leaning in the doorway calmly. He flinched as one of my bras hit him, landing partially on his head and covering his eye.

"Smooth" He said sarcastically, pulling it off his head and tossing it into the bag with a flick of his wrist.

"You're done?!" I asked incredulously as I shoved some more clothing into the bag.

"You're not?!" Kakashi asked, in a tone mocking the one I had just used.

"Well, I am now!" I zipped the bag shut and slung it over my shoulder.

I grabbed my sword from were it was propped against the closet door.

"Everyone else ready?" I asked.

Kakashi shook his head.

"So, you just came to my place for kicks" I guessed.

"I had time to kill" He said with a shrug.

Unfortunately my memory repressing skills had always sucked, so I was rather violently hit with a flashback from the night before.

I shook my head wildly.

Kakashi was giving me one of those crazy looks, with his eyebrow raised.

"Do I want to know?"

I shook my head more wildly.

"Oh-kay then." We made our way to the training grounds, to the spot where we were supposed to meet.

Kakashi and I spent about half an hour of it in awkward silence, by ourselves. Then everyone filed in.

"Everyone got everything they need?" I asked, "Sunscreen, food, blankets, clothing's, you know, everything?"

"Yes mom" Naruto replied dryly, rolling his eyes.

I grinned slightly. If we were a family, we would be that crazy family down the road that no one else want's their kids hanging with. Not because of drugs, but because the family is a little on the crazy side.

I turned to Kakashi.

"Let's go!" I exclaimed.

Kakashi nodded, then paused.

"You sure your ankle is okay? I'm not carrying you all the way there," Kakashi warned.

"I'm fit as a fiddle" I promised.

I pursed my lips in puzzlement.

How can a fiddle be fit?

Do they mean like fit to play, or fit as in healthy?

"Now ONWARD WE GO!" I cried, punching the air with my fist before walking off.

My ankle buckled and I fell to the ground, completely ruining my dramatic march off.

There was a little puff of dust from my impact with the ground, getting in my mouth.

I sat up, trying to cough out the dust I just swallowed.

I turned my head to face Kakashi, keeping my expression serious, like I had something important to say.

"You see that?" I asked seriously, using one finger to point to the ground, "That was pro."

* * *

**Very dull chapter...oh well, had to be written.**

**My updates are going to be really slow because, well, I'm going down to a cabin with my friend, and I find it hard to write during summer. Just letting y'all know.**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	24. Oh My Darling Clementine

**Ugh...I should make this sort cause I feel sicky-ish...**

**Some parts probably really suck because, well, they do.**

* * *

"How much longer?" Naruto moaned. I sighed. Forehead, meet palm. That was probably about the twentieth time he had asked, and it was started to tick me off.

"Your mother" I muttered.

"That's not even a real comeback." Sasuke said simply.

"Be quiet Fairy-princess!" I snapped.

Sasuke glowered at me. I smirked. That's right.

"Fairy princess?" Kakashi asked me quietly, so Sasuke wouldn't hear. I shrugged nonchalantly, looking at a point in his hair.

"Long story" I said casually.

"Alright then" Kakashi muttered. Sasuke whipped out a cell-phone from his pocket.

"Whoa! When did you get that?!" I asked in astonishment.

Sasuke remained silently as his thumbs flew across the buttons at a rapid pace.

"Who're you texting" Naruto asked, leaning in over Sasuke's shoulder.

"No one" Sasuke said blatantly, flipping the phone shut and shoving it back in his pocket.

"Well, it _has_ to be someone" Naruto pointed out.

Sasuke ignored him. Apparently this was a normal tactic for him.

"Just tell me who it is!" Naruto begged.

I elbowed Kakashi, whom was walking beside me. He tilted his head slightly so he could see my face. I ignored the faint blush spreading across my cheeks and made a gun figure with my pointer and middle fingers extended and my thumb being the trigger. I moved my thumb slightly and flinched. Kakashi rolled his eye and nodded slightly. We both agreed that Naruto and Sasuke fighting was an unbearably annoying ordeal.

"You shouldn't joke about that though" Kakashi reminded me sternly.

I frowned. Right, his dad killed himself. Poor kid.

"Yeah, sorry," I muttered, shoving my hands in my pocket. Great, now I felt bad. I knew the feeling was going away, but I still hated that little feeling in your gut after you did something.

I focused my gaze up ahead at Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto was taking a fighting stance and making punching motions with clenched fists. Sasuke seemed annoyed, but did nothing. I frowned. Someone was missing. Someone…but who? I glanced behind me and blinked. Sakura was trailing behind us, an open sketchbook in hand.

"Sakura" I called, "Whatcha doing back there?" Sakura looked up, blushing slightly at being caught.

"N-nothing!" She stammered.

"Well, hurry up!" I told her loudly. "No need" Kakashi told me.

"Hm?" I inquired, looking up at him. Big mistake. I made eye contact. My heartbeat sped up considerably and my face flushed bright red. I looked down at my shoes. I liked my shoes. Sure, they stood out with their bright red and white stripes, but they conformable. He ignored me, but not before giving me a concerned look.

"C'mon, we're taking a break" Kakashi informed us all.

"But I don't need one!" Naruto said stubbornly.

"We're taking a break because I don't want to hear you complaining when you're actually tired," Kakashi said simply.

I grinned. Smart logic really.

"Where do we sit?" I asked, examining our surroundings.

There really was no place to sit, most of the area was full of trees or, well, more trees. "Right here" Kakashi said, striding over to a tree, leaning against it, and sliding to the ground.

"Kay" I shrugged, flopping down to the ground and spreading myself out across the very pebble-y ground. Sasuke pulled out his cell phone again and propped himself up against the same tree as Kakashi. From what I could tell he was texting again. Naruto sat down next to me, folding his legs over each other. Sakura caught up to us, sat down on the other side of me. She pulled her knees closer to her chest and rested her sketchbook upon them. She brought her pencil across the page in quick, careful strokes.

Naruto fell over onto his back, crushing his backpack. Speaking of backpacks, I was squishing mine too. I sat up, pulling mine off and placing it under my head to use it as a pillow. There was a loud rumbling noise coming from nearby. I tensed, reaching for my sword's hilt. I flinched as I heard it again. Then my eyes rested on Naruto.

"The moron fell asleep" I commented.

"He's snoring" Sasuke complained.

"At least he won't talk" Kakashi reminded us.

"Does anyone have a marker?" I asked. Sasuke smirked, catching onto my plan, but he shook his head.

Kakashi did too.

Only one person left.

I turned to Sakura, who seemed deeply engrossed in her drawing.

"Do you have a marker Sakura?" I inquired, poking her shoulder slightly.

She flinched. "What?"

"Marker" I stated, holding out an open palm.

Sakura's mouth formed an 'O' shape. She reached into her bag and pulled out three markers. One was black, one was purple-ish blue, and one was golden yellow. I grabbed all three. I swung my legs into the air, propelling myself into a sitting position. Sakura shrugged and went back to drawing.

"Sasuke, Kakashi, get over here" I commanded.

Sasuke obliged, walking over with a calm smirk on his face. Kakashi, however, pulled out his copy of Make Out Paradise and started reading it intently. I handed Sasuke a marker; the purple-ish blue one. I uncapped the black one with a loud pop noise. Naruto snored but didn't stir in the least. I started underneath his nose and branched off in a small swirl. Ah, the joy of the French mustache. Sasuke wrote 'I'm a dumbass' on his cheek. I snickered. Sasuke had managed to avoid his whisker-things so it was perfectly legible. I was feeling really proud of myself at that moment.

I frowned, racking my brain for something to write or draw.

I looked between Sasuke and Naruto, allowing a minor smirk to grow on my face.

A few minutes later the word 'SasuNaru' was scribbled on his other cheek.

Sasuke scowled, and I knew it was on. He took his marker and began drawing a heart on the side of Naruto's forehead. I watched intently. Soon, my name was written in the heart, followed by a plus sign. I rolled my eyes, oldest trick in the book.

Even so, I found myself scowling at Sasuke as he dotted the 'I' in Kakashi. I scribbled it out quickly, a little too quickly. Sasuke gave me a look that totally read 'You know I'm right'.

I threw one back at him that said 'Even if you're right, I'll deny it'.

Sasuke, who somehow managed to interpret that, rolled his eyes. "That's called denial for a reason" He muttered.

"Not denial" I snapped defensively.

Of course, once I said this I realized how my behavior would seem in the eyes of Sasuke. So, now I had an emo kid who thought I liked Kakashi. Joy. I could already sense that this could have disastrous results.

To break whatever tension there was, I reached down and drew a monocle on Naruto's face.

Sasuke nodded in approval. "I'm done," He said, whipping out his phone again.

"Who are you texting?!" I asked in surprise, "Do you even have friends?!"

Sasuke glowered at me in that way only teenagers can.

Kakashi, who had somehow remained oblivious, flipped a page of his book. His eye skimmed over the words intently.

Sakura started humming a tune. It took me a moment, but soon I recognized it. 'Oh my darling Clementine'.

I heaved a sigh. Great, now I was the only one with nothing to do.

"Alright, we've moving, someone carry Naruto" Kakashi commanded, standing up. He flicked some dirt of his pant legs.

"Why doesn't someone wake him up?" Sakura asked, looking like she was eager too. I didn't want to know what she would do.

"But he'd talk!" I pointed out.

Naruto snored again, only louder.

"I'll carry him" I sighed.

"You sure?" Kakashi asked, giving me a weird look. I averted my eyes to Sasuke. Yes, nice, plain, somewhat scary, Sasuke.

"How heavy can he be?" I asked with a shrug. I honestly had no idea.

I managed to sling my bag over Naruto's shoulder and make sure it wasn't going fall off and bug me before I slung Naruto over my back. I lifted my right shoulder slightly, bringing Naruto's arm up so it was resting higher on my shoulder.

I grunted slightly in surprise. The kid was heavier than I expected him too be.

"Geez, he's gotta lay off the ramen for a while" I complained.

We started off again, this time in silence. Naruto was out like a light, and I was too busy trying not to just throw him to the ground to talk. Thus, silence. We walked for another four, maybe four and a half, hours before we took another break.

I straightened my back for the first time in hours and flung Naruto off. There was a little puff of dirt as he hit the ground. He jumped up, taking fighting stance.

"Wha-Ah-Oh- Bring it!" He cried out, obviously confused.

"Did you have a nice nap?" Sakura asked scornfully. This had to be one of the few times I had heard her speak so far on the trip, seriously, she was so engrossed in what she was writing/drawing. What was she doing anyway?

"I feel asleep?" Naruto asked sheepishly.

"No, Naruto, you were awake for the past four hours" I muttered sarcastically.

"You're in a bad mood today" Naruto informed me solemnly.

"Bite me" I grumbled. "Don't even think about it Naruto" I added, wheeling around to face him. The moment I laid eyes on his face, I had to bite my lip to keep myself from laughing too hard. I forgot about the markers. Sasuke seemed to be enjoying it too. I looked around, seeing what everyone else was up too. Kakashi was leaning against a tree, reading intently again. Sakura was sitting on the ground, her notebook open again.

I walked over to Sakura, deciding to ignore Sasuke and Naruto as they began to bicker again.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked brightly, leaning forward so I could get closer to her eye level.

"Drawing" Sakura said, pulling her notebook into her chest.

"Can I see?" I inquired, tilting my head to the side.

She shook her head vigorously. "No, you'll think little of me."

"Sakura, honey, I can't think any less of you than I already do" I assured her calmly.

She seemed to take this nicely at first, but then her content face morphed into a confused frown. Her grip loosened slightly on her notebook.

I took this as my prime opportunity to snatch it. Snatch it I did. I reached down and yanked it out of her grasp swiftly. I brought it to my face. Now to see what she was up too.

I blinked in surprise as I pieced together what was on the page. It was a manga of sorts. In the first panel there was a boy with spiky hair, not shaded in at all, with his hands crossing over his chest, lifting up the end of his shirt. There was an empty speech bubble above his head, so I assumed that she was still working on the rough copy. I skimmed over the next few panels, finding nothing interesting. It was the last one that caught my eye.

In it was the boy from the earlier panel and another one. The other one had spiky hair in the back, but it was shaggier in the front and shaded slightly. They were both shirtless and there bodies were pressed closely together. My eyes widened. Dear God, a yaoi manga?

"Hey, that one looks like…." I muttered as I noticed that the non-shaded one looked oddly like Naruto, whisker like things and all. I did a quick double check of Naruto, then the manga character, then Naruto again, before shuddering.

"And he looks like…" My voice trailed off. The one with the shaded hair had a rather uncanny resemblance to Sasuke. I did another double check and shuddered again.

She was writing a yaoi manga with two characters obviously based off of Naruto and Sasuke (Who were still arguing over God knows what.).

It was official, I was scarred for life.

I thrust the notebook back to Sakura.

"What do you think?" Sakura asked nervously.

"It's good" I squeaked.

I walked away calmly, making sure to make my back face Sakura before covering my eyes and rushing to Kakashi.

"Your students' a beast!" I wailed.

He looked up from his book mildly.

"Which one?" Kakashi inquired calmly. I didn't get how he was that calm. Then again, he hadn't read the manga yet, which meant he hadn't seen the freakish resemblance to Naruto and Sasuke in it.

I pointed my finger towards the other three on the team. "They all are!" I exclaimed in exasperation.

"Do you need sleep or something?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, peering at me curiously.

"Well, yes" I admitted, remembering that the previous night I had had some sleeping issues due to certain events, "But that's not the point!"

"We're only going to walk for another hour or so, then we'll set up camp" Kakashi assured me.

I took a calming breath. It was just a manga, not like it would ever happen. I hope. What if it did?! Oh…oh..ick. Great, now that thought's in my head. Make it get out! Out I tell you!!

"How's your ankle?" Kakashi asked me.

I blushed, having just realized how close I was standing to him. There were only a few inches separating us.

"I-I've had worse" I stammered, trying to step backwards. I winced, suddenly my back hurt like hell. I blamed Naruto right away. Geez, the kid has got to lay off the ramen. Or go on a diet. Kakashi, who seemingly interpreted my back pain as ankle pain somehow, managed to get his backpack over my back (Naruto, being the idiot he was, was still carrying my stuff) and get me onto his back within ten seconds. I blinked, feeling dazed, confused, and a little embarrassed. Aside from the fact my heartbeat had sped up and I had a feeling that he could tell because my chest was against his back. That and my face had turned red again.

"We're heading out!" Kakashi called loudly.

"Gotcha!" Naruto called, scurrying over to walk ahead of Kakashi and me. Sakura kept her own pace, lagging behind slightly. Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets and pretended he wasn't trying to catch up with us and Naruto, when we all knew he wanted to.

"Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed as he turned around backwards to talk to us. "Akiko-sensei, what's wrong with your face?!"

My face turned a deeper shade of red at being caught blushing

Sasuke, who had caught up by this point, decided to be a nice kid for once.

"What's wrong with your face?" He retorted. .

Naruto was fuming.

"What does that mean?!" He demanded.

"It looks like a dog threw up on you" Sasuke stated calmly.

I frowned. "Are you dissing my art skills?" I asked evenly, glaring.

"Art skills….?" Naruto's voice trailed off.

With that Naruto began scrubbing furiously at his face, no where near where we had drawn.

"Thanks" I mouthed to Sasuke.

He shrugged before mouthing back "You owe me".

I glowered at him. I owed him nothing.

My eyelids were starting get heavy. The faint rocking from Kakashi's long strides were relaxing, and I wanted to take a nap.

Resting my head against Kakashi's cheek slightly I allowed myself to close my eyes.

"Naruto, can you walk a little closer to Sasuke?" Sakura inquired politely.

I shuddered violently. Ick.

"You feeling alright?" Kakashi asked.

I blinked. "Yeah" I lied. He didn't need to know about my mental scarring.

I rested my head against his cheek again and closed my eyes.

Tuning out the rest of the world was hard, because Naruto and Sasuke had started arguing over ramen. Not like a bowl of it either, just what tasted better.

"Will they ever shut up?" I muttered. Because, seriously, if they din't someone was going to get it.

"I'm telling you, the store bought kind is just as good as the stuff at the ramen shop!" Sasuke argued.

"As if, the best kind is the stuff they make by hand!" Naruto scoffed.

I could tell Sasuke was trying hard not to give off any signs of amusement, because then Naruto might figure out we had drawn on his face. Not like would realize, he's a little dense.

Sasuke made some random, pointless comment that pissed Naruto off.

I opened my eyes, waiting to his reaction.

"I'm going to kick your ass!" Naruto screamed, clenching his hand into a fist and swinging at Sasuke. Sasuke shoved his hands into his pocket, sidestepping Naruto. Naruto stumbled foreword for a moment before he caught he his balance, turned and took another swing. Now it was Sasuke's turn to move. Sasuke, however, didn't aim for Naruto's face; instead he lowered his arm and went straight for his gut.

I was torn. In a way it would be cool if Naruto beat Sasuke, namely because it would be his first time. On the other hand, Naruto was Naruto…and a pain. Sasuke seemed to have the upper hand. He kept his cool while fighting, whereas Naruto went around screaming and punching things.

If Naruto doesn't become the Hokage one day, he could around as some like mass-murderer…well, maybe. I doubt he has the guts to actually kill anyone.

"Alright, I have to put you down" Kakashi warned me, before straightening his back.

I fell off, landing on my feet thanks to his warning. I was, however, caught off guard by the weight of Kakashi's backpack, which was slung over my back. I fell over backwards, flailing my arms in the air, hoping someone was going to make an attempt to catch me. No such luck. I grunted when I hit the ground.

Sakura was in engrossed in her drawing to notice me, Sasuke and Naruto were still bickering, and Kakashi was attempting to break it up.

I propped myself up on my elbows, feeling too lazy to pull myself off the ground.

Kakashi placed his hands on Naruto and Sasuke's heads. He gently pushed them apart.

"You two can kill each other later, now you have to help set up the tent" Kakashi commanded sternly.

Kakashi turned around to face me. "The tents are in the bag." He nodded towards the backpack.

"That would explain why it's so heavy" I said, my head bobbing thoughtfully.

Kakashi walked over and helped me up.

Setting up the tent was a patience testing task. We had two tents; one was really large with a divider for the middle. The other one was just your average camping triangle-ish tent. I'll never get how he fit both tents into his bag along with his personal stuff. Maybe he like knew Mary Poppins or something.

Kakashi, being the meanie he was, claimed the smaller tent for himself and made me share with everyone else. It wasn't that bad though, at least there was a divider between us. Not like it would block out Naruto's snoring.

I decided to pull back the divider till we started to fall asleep though. Sakura was drawing away, humming "Oh my darling Clementine" again. Sasuke was lying on top of his sleeping bag, cell phone in hand.

"Texting again?!" Naruto moaned.

"Its exercise for his thumb" I pointed out, sitting up with my legs folded over each other.

"Why is that important?" Naruto demanded.

"I-uh-um-maybe if-ehehe" I stammered, scratching my cheek nervously.

"I thought so" Naruto bragged.

Sasuke flipped the phone shut, resting it on his stomach. "You can think?"

Naruto twitched. He jumped up, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke while screaming out some random words.

"Naruto, can you turn a little more to the left?" Sakura inquired politely.

My right eye twitched.

"Uhm, alright" Naruto muttered, shifting slightly.

"Thanks" Sakura said in a rush, bringing her pencil across the paper.

I twitched again.

"Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my dar-ling Clementine" Sakura sang under her breath,

I was twitching more frequently now.

"You were lost, but not forgotten, oh my darling, Clementine" She continued.

"Agh, I can't take it!" I exclaimed in exasperation.

Three heads turned to look at me like I was going crazy. Which, may have been the case.

"I'm going outside" I muttered, grabbing my sleeping bag and unzipping the door to the tent.

I re-zipped the tent flap before ambling over to Kakashi's tent. I opened the flap up and ducked in.

"Kakashi" I moaned, "I can't sleep."

Kakashi sat up blearily. "Why?" He grumbled.

I think he was trying to go to sleep, but it was dark and hard to see.

"Your students frighten me" I explained.

"Do you want to sleep in here?" Kakashi inquired.

I nodded, before realizing that he couldn't see me in the dark. "Yes."

There was a clicking noise followed by bright light. It took me a moment but I realized Kakashi had turned on a flashlight. He moved his sleeping bag over so there'd be room for mine.

I nodded in thanks, laying mine out next to his.

We sat in silence for a while. Then, "Kakashi?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me something about you that no one else knows" I spoke the words like it was a challenge, although I myself wasn't even sure if I was going to ask until I did.

"I sew as a secret hobby" Kakashi said blandly.

"Yeah, but I know that already!" I complained.

"What about you?" Kakashi asked.

"What about me?" I retorted, feeling confused.

"About _you_" Kakashi repeated.

I knotted my brows together in confusion.

"I dunno" Kakashi said, seemingly flustered, although I really doubted it.

Kakashi? Flustered? Bah!

"I don't know, your past or something" Kakashi added.

I rolled my eyes. Subtle hint.

"Fine" I sighed, folding my arms over my chest.

"Well, as you already know, I grew up in the Land Of Rice Patties with my family and Naoki. We lived in a house that is now a bed and breakfast, not that exciting really. It was me, my dad, my mom, and my younger brother. He was really cute and sweet, although he was a real pain in the ass when it came to bedtime stories" I smiled fondly, and sadly. I missed him.

"My mom was really sweet, although she acted like more of a child than I did. She was always walking around town, humming old music and smiling. My dad, my dad…well, he was weird. My dad insisted upon inventing his own recipes, which was dangerous. My mom would always make us leave the house…I think she meant it as a joke, because my dad never burnt the house down. Every night, before we went to bed my dad would make us sit in the living room literally, he would tie you down if he had to, and listen to a random story he would make up"

My smile grew slightly sadder, and tears were stinging my eyes. I was at a loss to why I was going on about this. I suppose it felt nice to talk to someone about (The fact that it was Kakashi had _nothing_ to do with it).

"I met Naoki when I was six. We played badminton and we both needed partners. We were friends ever since. I think once we only spent one day in a week not hanging out. Then, when I was fifteen she moved to Konoha. My family did their best to cheer up the first month after she left. My brother drew pictures, most of which I still have. He had some, they were cute. I could show them to you one day. Ahem, anyway, my dad started cooking things he thought I would like, and my mom just smiled, took me shopping, and did things she always did. She didn't act like it hadn't happened; she just didn't blow it out of proportion."

Straight after the mention of my brother's pictures a few tears rolled down my cheek. I continued talking thought. Once I started I couldn't stop halfway through.

"When I turned seventeen they decided to take me to Konoha. We booked a hotel room and planned on staying for a week. On Wednesday, I think, Naoki and I went out and she showed me around. We were out all day, and we had a blast. Neither of us had changed so we still got along like we used to. She walked me back to the hotel just after sunset. That was when…when…." I took a calming breath, "I found them."

I couldn't talk anymore, I was crying to hard.

"Sorry" I muttered, wiping some tears off of my cheek, "I didn't want you to see that."

"I'm not going to tell anyone" Kakashi assured me. He started leaning towards me and my mind began screaming 'Panic! Too close'. I was too choked up to do anything.

Kakashi wrapped both arms around me, pulling me into his chest.

I rested my head against his chesk for a moment before placing both hands on his chest and gently pushed him away.

"I don't want your pity" I stated bluntly.

"Crying doesn't suit you" Kakashi mused.

I quirked an eyebrow. What did he mean?

"It ruins your pretty face" Kakashi informed me.

A wave of heat rushed to my face. Kakashi chuckled lightly.

"Now you look like a wet tomato."

I smiled softly and punched his arm lightly. "Shut up."

Kakashi flopped down into his sleeping bag. "I'm going to bed" He muttered, stifling a yawn.

"Fine" I said clambering into my sleeping bag.

Kakashi clicked off the flashlight, leaving our eyes to adjust to the darkness.

I rolled onto my side, closing my eyes. After a few moments I got bored and rolled onto my back. I opened my mouth to complain.

"Akiko, go to bed" Kakashi commanded.

I obliged, rolling onto my side again.

Falling asleep when you can hear the song 'Oh my darling Clementine' from the next tent over is hard. Very much so.

* * *

**Yeah, that is that...**

**I seriosuly won't be updating for a little while (I don't think, maybe, if we're lucky) because my brother decided to take the laptop I was using to write, and my sister normally goes on the one I'm using now..so yeah.**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	25. Sasuke's Mini Kitchen

**Here we are, a new chappie! The title will be explain below, in my actual fic.**

**On a side note, I went to Ai-kon 2008, dressed as Tamaki from Ouran (Episode 8) but everyone thought I was Near from Death Note :(. I got a few death glares. But, anyway, I bought a Kakashi plushie, and it was the cutest thing, he's actually beside me right now.**

**Aside from my convention woes, read on!**

The next morning I awoke to the sweet, sweet sound of Naruto screaming.

"Argh, what the hell is _this _doing in my bag?!" Naruto screeched.

He could be heard clearly, even from the next tent over.

My eyelids fluttered open. What was wrong with Naruto this time?

Kakashi shot up, ninja reflexes working no doubt.

I sat blearily. "I guess he found my bag" I muttered as I remember Naruto had been carrying it and I had left it in the tent.

Kakashi unzipped his sleeping bag and stood up, although he had to crouch over. I started to stand up too, but I tripped and fell over my sleeping bag. Kakashi made his way out of the tent, laughing at my attempts at untangling myself from my sleeping bag.

Eventually I did manage to escape from the sleeping bag of doom.

I clambered out of the tent, finding only Sasuke sitting outside, cell phone in hand.

"Where's Kakashi?" I inquired.

Naruto was still freaking out, and Sakura I didn't care about.

"Taking a walk" Sasuke said with a shrug.

I nodded and plopped down on the ground next to Sasuke. "Any idea what's wrong with Naruto?"

"Found a bra in his bag" Sasuke explained.

I laughed. Poor kid.

"Who're you texting?" I asked as I noticed Sasuke's thumb flying rapidly over the numbers.

"None of your business" Sasuke grumbled.

"Y'know, if we were attacked, you'd be the first one to go because you're texting" I said sagely with a nod.

"It's a girl" Sasuke sighed.

"So, you're not gay?" I clarified in amazement.

Sasuke glared at me.

"Her name is Alice" Sasuke offered.

"Ah" I murmured. "Do you like this 'Alice'?"

"I guess you could say that" Sasuke said simply.

I was really tempted to make a 'gay' comment, but I restrained myself.

"How'd you meet her?" I asked, trying to hide my surprise that he had met a girl that wasn't a fan girl.

"In Konoha" Sasuke paused nervously, "Somewhere."

"You were in a bar, weren't you?" I accused, giving him a dirty glare.

Sasuke seemed oddly relieved by my guess. I furrowed my brows. He was hiding something.

"Yeah" Sasuke confirmed, still acting like he was lying.

"Oh, okay" I shrugged.

We sat in silence for a few moments as I watched him texting.

A small smile twitched on his lips as he read something on the screen.

I narrowed my eyes. There had to be something about this Alice kid, Sasuke just didn't smile.

"So, what's so special about this Alice kid?" I demanded curiously.

"Well" Sasuke took a deep breath, "She's nice, and she's really pretty with brown hair and chocolate eyes" –I rolled my eyes. Teenagers and their love affairs- "She likes a lot of the same things I do."

I started to zone out slightly. It was scaring me that Sasuke was talking so much.

"And she doesn't stalk me!" Sasuke finished with such vigor I was stunned for a moment.

"I could see how that would be a turn on" I said in agreement. I paused before asking, "So, does this mean you now have a girlfriend?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I like her a lot, and I like being around her. She makes me laugh" –I blinked. He could laugh?- "It's kinda like the way you feel about Kakashi, you know?"

Blood rushed to my face. What was he talking about? The way I feel about Kakashi?

"Maybe I do" I admitted grudgingly, knowing damn well that he'd figure it out himself anyway.

Sasuke smirked. "I didn't you'd actually admit to it."

My face turned a deeper shade of red.

I stammered out gibberish as I tried and failed to think of an excuse.

I didn't like Kakashi that way. Well, I didn't think I did.

Then again, that would explain why my heartbeat would speed up slightly whenever I was around him, and why I couldn't make eye contact.

It would also explain why I still spent time with him even though it was awkward.

Okay, so maybe I did like him that way. I wasn't going to admit it to him.

"Don't tell anyone!" I commanded Sasuke sternly.

He smirked at me confidently. I had a sinking feeling he was planning something I didn't want to know about.

"Fine, as long as you let me sneak out to meet Alice" Sasuke said.

I sighed, this was so blackmail. "Fine."

Sasuke continued to smirk.

"I'm being blackmailed by a twelve-year-old" I complained to no one.

Naruto had stopped screaming, but still hadn't emerged. Neither had Sakura, although I think I heard 'Oh my Darling Clementine' coming from inside the tent.

I looked up as I heard footsteps padding across the dirt. Kakashi walked over, flicking us a quick wave.

"Naruto's shut up I see" Kakashi commented.

Sasuke threw a glance at me, a searching one. I could tell he was searching for any sign that I liked Kakashi, either for further blackmail purposes, or just so he could really tell.

I nodded. "Yeah, thank God he's finally decided to be quiet" I agreed gratefully.

"You don't look like a tomato today" Kakashi quipped.

My face flushed as I stuck my tongue out at him.  
Sasuke saw the blush and smirked knowingly. I turned and stuck my tongue out at him too before standing up and marching off towards Naruto's tent.

"I'm gonna go get my things" I muttered, unzipping the flap to Sakura's side. I tripped over the bottom part and fell inside.

Sakura jumped as I landed face-first next to her.

"Does Naruto still have my bag?" I mumbled into the tent fabric.

"Uh, yeah, I think so" Sakura informed me.

I sat up quickly, lifting the little tent divider thinger.

Naruto was sitting cross-legged, surrounded by a large amount of my clothing.

"I take it this is your bag" Naruto guessed sourly.

"Good guess Sherlock" I commented dryly.

Naruto slowly began throwing everything that was scattered out around him back into the bag. I watched aimlessly. I didn't plan on helping, but I really had nothing better to do.

Sasuke stuck his head into the tent. "Can you pass me my bag?"

"That one?" I inquired, tilting my head to the side and pointing to a large bag in the corner.

Sasuke nodded.

"Naruto, go get it" I commanded.

Naruto grumbled, but obliged. He picked up the bag before almost toppling forwards. "What's in here, a load of bricks?" Naruto whined, before attempting to lift it again. He succeeded this time and handed it over to Sasuke, who handled the weight with manly grace.

He disappeared into the outside world, leaving me and Naruto with the task of cleaning up all my stuff.

Which, naturally, meant that I was going to watch while Naruto did all the work.

Eventually I got bored of watching Naruto grimace as he picked up some various form of girls clothing and went outside to see what Sasuke was up too.

I blinked in surprise as I laid eyes on what Sasuke was unpacking. He sat crossed-legged on the ground, surrounded by various sorts of cooking tools.

"A toaster?" I inquired, eyeing the kid curiously.

"Solar powered" he muttered absently.

I raised an eyebrow. Was the toaster solar-powered or was he referring to something else all-together?

I stood, staring dumbstruck as Sasuke removed one thing after the other, all food related.

Soon he had a mini-kitchen sorta thing surrounding him. I blinked off the general shock of the scene before commenting, "Where's your easy-bake oven?"

Sasuke shrugged in the direction of his bag. "In there" He said dully.

I remained unsure of what was stranger. The fact that Sasuke actually brought cooking stuff with him or the fact he brought an easy bake over.

"Woah" Kakashi was suddenly behind me, his expression most likely mirroring my own when I first saw the mess.

"What sudden crazy idea told you to bring along a mini-kitchen" Kakashi inquired, tilting his head to the side curiously.

"The fact that none of you idiots would think to bring any sort of food along" Sasuke muttered.

"Fairy-princess makes a good point" I said in agreement. At that moment I officially decided his nickname was going to be Fairy-Princess.

He glowered at him, knotting his eyebrows together.

I grinned and ducked behind Kakashi for protection.

"What's for breakfast?" Sakura inquired, sticking her head out of the tent flap.

Her face showed shock as she saw her beloved Sasuke sitting around cooking tools, placing bread into an apparently solar powered toaster.

She ducked back into the tent for a second before remerging from the tent.

"I thought I was dreaming" She muttered.

"Me too" I agreed.

"Well this _is_ strange" Kakashi said.

Sakura stuck her hand back into the tent for a moment, pulling out her notebook. She scribbled something down quickly, mouthing out what she was writing. It was something like "Sasuke can cook. Put in manga".

I shuddered at the memory of the manga.

"What's strange?" Naruto asked from inside the tent.

I jumped, as I had completely forgotten Naruto was even around.

"Sasuke's cooking" I hissed, just loud enough so Naruto could hear.

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed. I saw the top of the tent move up slightly, so I figured Naruto had jumped up.

Naruto fell out of tent, landing with a thud on the ground.

"Graceful" I commented dryly. Naruto shot up quickly, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

I watched in amusement as Naruto's jaw dropped at the sight of Sasuke's little mini-kitchen.

"Ah-bah-a-uh-wah" Naruto stammered in amazement

"We felt the same too, don't worry" I said soothingly, patting Naruto's head.

Naruto turned to give me an odd look.

I smiled brightly. It was always amusing to frighten them.

I frowned suddenly. It was suddenly to get cool. An odd thing to happen suddenly in the morning.

Unless…

I glanced up to the sky. Slowly but surely grey clouds were moving in over the horizon, and I was slowly becoming aware of the odd feeling of rain in the air.

Unless it was going to rain.

"Hate to make Sasuke hurry up with his cooking" I began slowly, "But it looks like we're going to get a rainstorm."

Kakashi glanced upwards. "So it does" He muttered in agreement.

"Toast is ready" Sasuke said suddenly, turning around holding four slices of browned bread.

"Oh-uhm-Thank you, Sasuke" Sakura stammered, blushing.

I rolled my eyes as Sasuke blatantly ignored Sakura when she took the toast from his outstretched hand.

Teenagers were truly frightening people.

Naruto reached out to grab a piece of toast.

My stomach grumbled loudly. I was seriously hungry. I lunged forward, snatching the toast from Sasuke's palm.

Naruto glowered at me as he grabbed another piece.

I shoved it in my mouth savagely.

"Mmm food" I mumbled, spewing toast crumbs into the crisp air.

"You're a pig" Sasuke informed me bluntly.

I grinned, using my wrist to wipe away some stray toast crumbs. "So you noticed."

"It's hard not too" Sasuke muttered to himself.

I scowled at him menacingly. Which didn't seem to faze him in the slightest.

Damn, I have to practice my menacing glare.

I finished eating my toast and went to go get my back and change clothes. With the oncoming rain I was hoping to find something warmer.

I sighed as I rummaged through my bag. Leave it to me to forget to pack any form of sweater. The warmest thing I probably had was a black T-shirt and a pair of Capri's. I sighed, knowing I would have to make do. I pulled on my clothes and reemerged from the tent, only to find everyone else wearing warmer clothing.

Kakashi had a trench coat pulled over his shirt and vest. Naruto really had no reason to change; his orange jumpsuit was seemingly warm enough. Sasuke had slipped a darker, black shirt underneath his normal T-shirt. Sakura wore a stylish green sweater with a heart shaped button attached to the side.

"You're wearing that?" Kakashi inquired, looking at me curiously.

"It's the warmest thing I brought" I replied with a shrug.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, mouthing 'idiot'.

I grinned sheepishly.

"I'm starting to wonder how you managed to live as long as you did" Kakashi commented.

I shrugged. In truth, I wondered too. Sometimes I've done some really stupid things.

"Don't we all" I agreed.

"C'mon, let's go!" Naruto moaned.

"We've got to pack first" Kakashi reminded solemnly.

Using the great power of teamwork we- Okay, Kakashi and Sasuke- slowly disassembled the tent (Once we had removed our bags and such).

So, half an hour later we were on our way. Sakura had resumed her drawing, and humming, much to my immense displeasure.

I walked beside Sasuke, having decided that walking by Kakashi would only further Sasuke's theories. He pulled out his phone suddenly, his eyes scanning over a text.

I realized that walking beside him would be boring, so I walked over to Naruto. "So, how's it going?" I asked brightly.

"Boring!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yeah" I sighed.

We walked in silence again. The air was starting to get rather chilly. I folded my arms around myself, running my hands up and down my arms. My attempt at keeping myself warm was a futile one. By the time the grey clouds had covered the sky like a curtain I was shivering.

"Sensei, are you okay, you're shaking" Naruto commented, looking at me in concern.

"I'm fine" I tried to assure him. It was my fault I didn't have a sweater, it wouldn't be right to say I was cold.

"Shaking is normal for you?" Naruto asked doubtfully, eyebrow used.

"Yes" I scowled.

Naruto cowered at my glance, closing his mouth.

I wrapped my arms tighter around myself. I couldn't let myself seem cold.

I felt something warm drape around my shoulders suddenly. I blinked, glancing down. It was a coat. Glancing up, I realized Kakashi was the one who had given it to me.

"No" I protested, "You keep it!"

He looked at me kindly, "You probably need it more than I do." He gestured to his vest and long-sleeved shirt.

I realized that I was blushing and abruptly shifted my gaze to the ground. I heard Sasuke's snicker.

"Thanks" I mumbled gratefully, grabbing the sides and wrapping it tighter around me.

As much as I felt like a creep for noticing, the coat smelled like Kakashi. I didn't purposely smell it though!

We walked in silence for a while, pretty much because I was blushing and didn't want to look up to talk, and Sakura was too busy drawing her yaoi manga.

I felt something cold hit my head. I glanced up towards the sky. It was completely clouded over, making it a bleary shade of gray.

A few more wet drops hit my face. "Rain" I muttered smiling. I love the rain, it was really relaxing.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sakura shielding her notebook, making me chuckle. That was an evil notebook as far as I was concerned.

"Well," Kakashi began slowly, "Let's find a place to sit this out."

* * *

**Hahahah, Sasuke has an Easy Bake Oven. Makes me laugh everytime I read it.**

**I really have nothing else to comment on down here...sad.**

**Well! R&R!**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	26. Captain Killjoy

**Hello dear readers! I am proud to announce I have a new update (No duh.)**

**Much thanks to my friend Suzuki Yumi for providing the bowl of soup sitting next to me, and her computer so I could write and update.**

**On a side note, I'm so glad to back from my week long vacation at a cabin near a beach. I didn't see the sun for like four days...even though it was a nice sunny place. Also, the main reason I'm glad to be back is that I was getting kinda tired of being stalked by that random kid that flirted with my younger sister, and of being stalker by "Scribbles" the cat.**

**Ignoring my ramblings, read on!**

* * *

I smiled as the rain hit my skin, splattering against my skin. Rain was always rather relaxing.

I turned back towards Team 7, smiling broadly, who were all crowded under a makeshift shelter of tent fabric draped over some tree branches.

"Isn't rain great?" I asked brightly, clapping my hands together.

"Sure" Kakashi replied, "Now get under the tent; I don't want to have look after you if you catch a cold."

I nodded brightly, skipping back to our shelter and cramming myself between Sasuke and Naruto. I was _not _going to sit by Sakura, who had resumed drawing. That had mentally scarring potential.

Although the problem with sitting by Sasuke was the fact he kept on shooting my a knowing smirk before casting a glance at Kakashi, who saw this and kept on giving me weird looks. Thankfully, Naruto remained oblivious.

We sat in silence for the longest time, all waiting for someone to break the silence even though no one was willing too.

Until Sakura moaned.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, obviously concerned.

"There's a hole in my jacket!" She complained.

I tilted my head to the side, "How big?"

She lifted her sleeve up for us to see, and I cringed. The hole was a tear in the seam, starting about around the elbow and ending in the middle of the forearm. A lightly colored strand of thread was dangled, barely visible, in the air.

"How did you not notice that before?" Sasuke asked, eyeing her in a patronizing manner.

I myself was wondering that too. It was a big-ass hole, people just don't go around ignoring big-ass hole's.

"Give it here" Kakashi commanded, extending his arms towards her.

"Eh?" Sakura tilted her head to the side.

My eyes widened. Oh, don't tell me he actually brought some form of sewing kit with him.

"Give it to me" Kakashi repeated slowly,

Sakura's mouth made an 'o' shape as she slowly removed her jacket and draped it over Kakashi's outstretched arm.

Using his other arm, Kakashi pulled a small plastic box out of one of his vest pockets. A sewing kit.

While Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto stared in amazement at the box, almost like it was some ancient, magical relic, I doubled over laughing.

Kakashi cast a mild glare in my direction.

"You…. you and…Sasuke" I gasped between laughter, "Are….like…like…housewives." With that said, I burst into another hysterical fit of laughter.

Two pairs of eyes were now glaring at me, while the other two's attention was still diverted by the sewing kid.

"K-Kakashi-sensei" Naruto stammered, "Y-you can sew?"

"Yes" Kakashi deadpanned. By this point he had the needle threaded, and was starting to sew together the hole in Sakura's jacket.

Tears of mirth began to form on my eyelashes. He actually brought a sewing kit with him. What kind of person carries a sewing kit with them?

A sane voice in my head was quick to respond with a "A well prepared person, unlike a certain someone who didn't pack warm clothes."

I continued to laugh, but a small scowl formed on my face. Damn sane voice, always killing my fun.

I readjusted myself so I could prop myself up against the tree.

"What?" Sasuke asked dryly, "Too lazy to sit up yourself?"

"Dead-on, Fairy Princess, dead-on."

Sasuke scowled irritably. I giggled. It was so easy to annoy him

Seeing as how I had moved, apparently it was now Sakura's chance to ask a question.

"Naruto, can you move a little closer to Sasuke?" She asked sweetly, flashing a dazzling smile at him.

I began to shudder, somewhat violently.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi inquired calmly, pausing his sewing to examine me for a moment.

"No, no" I assured him quickly, my voice an octave higher than normal, "I'm fine."  
"Right" Kakashi said slowly, rolling his eyes.

Naruto, albeit unsurely, had moved a little closer to Sasuke, who's scowl deepened.

I stared absently at the rain, wondering how my uncle was doing. Earlier I had been either too scarred, or too amused to actually start thinking about things again.

I was starting to have an odd feeling of dread, and a feeling of guilt for leaving. I really hoped he was okay. If he didn't make living at home was certainly going to be hard. Besides, I wasn't even sure if I would able to live there anymore. He had mentioned he had to kids living in the Sand Village or something, so he'd probably leave the house to them. I had no idea why he had left, something about how his wife kicked him out.

I was really starting to wonder why relationships never seem to work out these days. It was tragic really. Which is when I began to wonder if I ever ended up in some form of relationship with Kakashi, would it work?

I chanced a glance at him and blinked in surprise.

Kakashi sewed with strange grace for a man, his movements were smooth and fluent. You could tell he'd had a lot of practice.

I stifled a laugh at the somewhat sadistic thought of Kakashi accidentally stabbing himself in the finger with a sewing needle.

"Something funny?" Sasuke growled. I glanced at him. Apparently Sakura had, yet again, requested he and Naruto move closer together.

I giggled, he look so annoyed about Naruto sitting next to him.

"Yes, yes I do" I informed him, grinning.

Sasuke scowled again.

"You're going to get wrinkles if you keep that up" I stated with a smirk.

Still scowling.

"Seriously, you're going to have wrinkles _and_ frown lines if you keep this up."

The scowl didn't fade.

"Alright then…." I trailed off, accepting his decision of early wrinkles.

"Hey!" Sakura burst out, "It's stopped raining!"

Naruto shot up. "Really?"

It was painfully clear how much Naruto hated sitting still, and I rolled my eyes.

I stood up calmly, brushing off my pant legs. I walked out from under the makeshift shelter and inhaled deeply.

I loved the crisp smell of the air after it rained, it was always so calming.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Kakashi walk up to stand directly behind me. I flushed slightly; he was a little too close.

Sasuke chuckled evilly.

I scowled darkly. Suddenly, the thought of beating the crap out of the Uchiha sounded nice.

Kakashi elbowed me slightly, managing to replace the scowl with a look of surprise.

"What?" I inquired.

"Rainbow" Kakashi replied simply, nodded upwards. I followed his nod and stared up at the sky.

Faded colors spread across the sky, gently blending in with the surrounding blue. I smiled, it was so peaceful.

"Woah" Sakura breathed.

"It's….so….pretty" I muttered.

"It's just a rainbow" Sasuke scoffed, obviously too manly to enjoy the sight.

"Shut up Fairy Princess, don't ruin it for the rest of us!"

Sasuke glared at me. I smirked. So easy.

"Yeah Sasuke" Naruto sneered.

"Shut up Naruto" Sasuke replied calmly.

"HEY!" Naruto snapped, starting off on an unintelligible rant.

"Shut up Naruto!" Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura and I commanded in unison.

I chuckled. It was rare that we would all agree on something.

Naruto glared at all of us in turn, and I laughed harder.

I stopped laughing and smiled. Rain always put me in such a good mood.

"Just think" Kakashi muttered, leaning forward to talk into my ear without anyone hearing. His breath tickled my ear and I blushed involuntarily.

"We've got another week with them" He informed me, an amused tone in his voice.

I elbowed Kakashi in the gut roughly, scowling. That totally killed whatever good mood I was in.

"Way to go, Captain Killjoy."

* * *

**Captain Killjoy, eh? I just noticed that I seem to be nick-naming characters a lot. -.-' oh well. It's always amusing to do so.**

**Woo! School in two weeks! I always get more inspired during school (Especially math class, maybe explained my lower marks in that class).**

**With that random comment out of the way, it brings me to the end of this update.**

**R&R!**

**-Y.A.O.G**

* * *


	27. Sounds Like Latin To Me

**Yayz! A new chapter! About time too, ne?**

**On a bonus, I added a little bit of fluff (Well, I found it fluffly, but I have a weird way of defining things) this time around.**

**So, read on young ones!**

* * *

"Oh thank God!"

I stepped into Gaara's house, full of relief. Air conditioning, for one. Showers, for two. And, finally, sleeping in a bed.

"Couldn't have said it better myself" Sasuke muttered in agreement.

Sakura smiled. "Finally a bed to sleep in."

"Finally a break from you three" I teased.

"Not four?" Sasuke questioned.

"Eh?"

"There are five us in all, minus one; I'm assuming you'd want a break from Kakashi too."

I groaned. Damn Sasuke.

"Well, he's not as annoying as you three" I said dismissively, scowling.

Kakashi, who stood in front of the rest of us, turned around. "Well, that's good!" He said, a teasing twinkle in his eye.

"Oh, you're still an ass, don't worry" I assured him kindly.

"Yeah, thanks" Kakashi said, rolling his eye.

Someone cleared his or her throat loudly.

Our pointless banter halted as we turned to see who was talking to us. There was a girl, about Sasuke's age, standing there in a black maid's uniform, with a blank expression plastered on her face. Her mask cracked slightly as she saw Sasuke though.

I glanced between the two of them. There was a quick flicker of recognition on Sasuke's face, but it was replaced by his normal bored expression.

"Hello. I'm the head housekeeper here. You can call me Alice."

-Alice? Wait. Wasn't that that girl Sasuke had met at the bar?-

"I'm here to explain your duties to you" She continued.

"Duties?" Sakura interjected, "I thought we were only supposed to watch Gaara's pet canary?"

"No, you also have to look after his garden" Alice explained.

"He has a garden?" Sasuke scoffed.

"Like you don't" I teased.

Sasuke scowled at me, giving me a look that said 'Not in front of her.'

My mouth made an 'o' and I flashed him a motherly wink, making his scowl deepen.

"Is that it?" I asked rather rudely, wanting nothing more than a shower and a nap.

"Yes, your rooms are down the hall" Alice said, nodding to the left.

"I call the big one!" I exclaimed.

I rushed down the indicated hallway like an excited child in a candy store, sticking my head into random doors before deciding on which one was the biggest.

Three rooms into my search I found one that I liked. It was a fairly large room, with doors on both sides adjoining it to the rooms on the left and right.

The bed-looked plush, with pre-fluffed pillows and a forest green blanket covering the mattress. There was a vanity directly across from bed. It was a deep brown, with ornate carvings in the wood.

There was a small closet in one corner, just big enough to fit a small child if they curled up into a ball.

I smiled happily. A real room. Dropping my bags, I made a mad dash to the bed. I landed softly against the feathery mattress.

I lay there for a while, my eyes slowly drifting shut before I forced them open. I wasn't going to nap….not at first. I was hungry anyway.

I rolled onto my back and glanced lightly down at my stomach.

There was a sudden knock on my door and Kakashi stuck his head in. "Do you want to shower first?" He inquired politely.

"Uhhmmm" I mumbled, not sure whether or not I wanted to eat or have a shower. It's like I could do both without my food getting wet.

"If you do, you'd better go fast. Sasuke and Naruto are having a rock-paper-scissors duel over it" Kakashi warned,

I sighed, jumping off the bed. I picked up my bag off the floor before following Kakashi out of room.

"What about you?" I inquired.

"Hm?" Kakashi looked at me curiously.

"You don't want to shower first?" I elaborated.

"No, I can wait a little while" He shrugged simply.

"But you smell weird enough as it is!" I complained.

"Look whose talking" Kakashi shot back, not even bothering to make eye contact.

I frowned. Now he was starting to make comebacks. That wasn't fair.

"Best out of three!" Naruto exclaimed. I blinked and shifted my attention the two twelve-year olds currently dueling over the shower.

"Whatever, loser" Sasuke replied rationally, rolling his eyes.

"Just sneak in" Kakashi advised, his voice low.

I nodded, "Right."

Pressing myself against the wall, I slowly shuffled past the two boys. I was feeling incredibly ninja when I made it to the bathroom.

Grinning wildly, I slammed the door shut as loudly as possible. The door's hinges creaked slightly.

"_HEY!"_ Naruto and Sasuke exclaimed.

"No fair!!" Naruto moaned, knocking on the door.

"Too late" I sang.

Both boys sighed in unison.

I stripped down and stepped into the shower, turning the water on.

I sighed in relief as my muscles relaxed in the warm stream of water.

A shower felt so nice after three days of Sakura and her yaoi manga, Sasuke and his 'girlfriend', Naruto and his douche-bagery, and just Kakashi in general.

Of course, my apparently obvious liking of the man just made it more awkward to be around him sometimes.

But it kinda seemed like it actually made us closer sometimes…

Maybe I was still partially clinging to semi-denial. Always makes things easier.

I emerged from the shower a while, cringing at the sudden abrupt shift between warm air and the cool outside air.

I dried myself off and got dressed into a pair of black shorts and a yellow tank-top.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, I found Naruto and Sasuke standing outside impatiently.

"What took you so long!?" Naruto demanded.

"Yeah" Sasuke snapped, "There are other people waiting to shower."

"If I blame it on stress, will you leave it alone" I asked hopefully.

"NO!" They both snapped in unison.

"Okay" I muttered thoughtfully. My expression brightened, "What if I blamed it on stress….due to PMS?"

Sasuke looked unimpressed at my devious excuse.

Naruto blinked, "What's 'PMS'?"

Sasuke and I turned our glances towards our blond companion.

Naruto looked between us worriedly. "What? Is something on my face? What? Why are you guys staring at me like that? _Whaaatt?_"

I tilted my head towards Sasuke.

"Let Kakashi handle it?" Sasuke guessed.

I smirked, although I was feeling vaguely irritated that Sasuke could read me so well.

"Let sensei handle what?" Naruto asked, sounding more panicked.

"Calm down" I said, patting his head patronizingly.

"Well, Sasuke" I said as I slowly started to walk off, "It's time to suggest the talk."

I heard Sasuke let out a quick hiss of breath, kind of like a snort. I figured he was laughing.

Gaara's place was confusing, and I accidentally stumbled into the wrong room.

Kakashi's room, too, unfortunately.

"S-sorry" I muttered, feeling thoroughly embarrassed and awkward. To top it off I had seemingly woken Kakashi up mid-nap.

"No it's okay" Kakashi muttered groggily, hand waving dismissively

I was blushing and was furiously hoping he didn't look up.

_Stop it_, I told myself, _you're acting like a high-school girl with a crush._

Kakashi grunted and heaved himself into a sitting position. "Come in, I had something to ask you about."

I looked at the floor, feeling incredibly pissed at myself. I hated blushing. It was just so….so embarrassing.

I walked in slowly, standing beside the bed.

"Sit down too" Kakashi invited, patting the spot on the bed next to him.

I sat down nervously, pulling my knees into my chest and hugging them tightly..

"I'm not going to bite" Kakashi joked lightly,

"You can't guarantee that though" I muttered, my tone almost as light as his. I relaxed slightly, my grip around my knees relaxing slightly

Kakashi chuckled. "Do the words 'pallens intereo primoris' mean anything to you?" Kakashi asked, suddenly all seriousness.

My brow scrunched up in concentration. I _had _heard it before, but I couldn't figure out where.

"Not really….." I trailed off as it clicked, "Yeah! You asked me if I knew what it meant a while ago." I paused, "What about it?"

"I don't know. It's been at all the crime scenes so far, but I'm at a loss to what it means" Kakashi muttered.

So, then why was he asking me that?

"Sounds like Latin to me" I said with a shrug.

"Thanks, but it's not like I carry a Latin dictionary around in the case that a sadistic killer decides to write in Latin and I need to figure out what it means" Kakashi muttered dryly.

"Oh I do!" I said brightly.

Kakashi eyed me curiously. "Seriously."

I laughed, lightly punching his arm. "No, that's a stupid reason to carry one around."

Kakashi laughed slightly too, but turned his head to stare at his knees.

I sobered slightly, reaching over and patting his head gently. "Don't freak out about it, you'll figure it out."

Kakashi leaned back against the headboard, looking at me warmly.

I bit my lip, fighting back that damn annoying blush.

"Yeah, I see your point" Kakashi muttered gratefully.

"I'm right again" I cheered triumphantly.

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'again'?"

I scowled half-heartedly. "Are you implying that I'm never right?"

"No I'm implying that you're rarely right" Kakashi replied.

I scrunched up my nose like I smelled something terrible.

Leaning back against the headboard next to Kakashi, I felt a weird awkward feeling. This whole 'sitting-in-silence' thing was weird.

Then, I remembered something I was going to tell Kakashi.

"Hye Kakashi" I began.

"Yeah?" He responded lazily, his eye lidded slightly.

I rolled my eyes, he was falling asleep.

"Someone's got to give Naruto the talk, and it sure as hell isn't going to be me" I explained as calmly as I could, without laughing.

Kakashi tilted his head to look at me. "Me? Give _him _talk?" He looked worried about it.

"Sasuke could help" I teased.

"Can't he get the talk from someone else?" Kakashi moaned.

"It isn't the same getting 'The Talk' from a girl, Kakashi" I pointed out.

"Didn't they cover that in ninja school?" Kakashi asked worriedly.

"I dunno, maybe" I shrugged.

"Then _why_ do I have to tell him?" Kakashi complained.

"Well, give him a talking to on girls at least. The kid's a major dumbass in that area" I sighed.

"No shit, really?" Kakashi asked sarcastically.

"Well" I said, leaping off the bed and making my way out the door. "Someone has to give him a talking to" I left the room, pausing slightly before sticking my head back into the room. "And it's going to be you."

Kakashi glared at me half-heartedly and grabbed a pillow.

I stuck my tongue out before sidestepping out of the way just in time for the pillow to hit the door and slam it shut.

I smiled.

If Kakashi agreed…well…it would certainly be interesting.

* * *

**Hm, the latin words make a comback. This raises the question: Important, or not? Well, that's up to you to decided. **

**Well, I'm not sure how slow my update schedule will be, but it will almost definitly be a little bit faster than my summer habits (What was it, one, or two chapters -.-')**

**Also, I have a random question: Has anyone heard of a show called MacGyver. Because, according to my parents, not knowing about it is a sin. But, my family's a little wonky.**

**Well, have a good school day, and I'm signing off (Bed time for the crazy person).**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	28. New Nicknames

**Gaahhh..it's late, I'm tired, and I'm pulling out an update for you guys.**

**Uhm...comments for this chapter...uhhh...I saw the Death Note movie? It was cool...**

**Ah, but the best part of a theater full of anime fans, is that you can scream at the screen when the moment needs it.**

* * *

"So, who's going to do what?" I inquired, staring at the four other members of team 7. We were, at the moment, attempting to figure out who would be watching the canary, or tending to the garden.

"I'll take garden gardening" I proclaimed after a few moments of silence.

"So, I'll be looking after the canary" Kakashi concluded.

Sasuke raised his hand slowly, "I'll help Akiko in the garden."

I blinked slowly. "Eh?"

"Eh?" Sasuke mocked before repeating himself, "I'll help you out in the garden."

Naruto frowned, folding his arms over his chest. "I don't want to be around _him _all day, so I'll help Kakashi-sensei with the canary."

Sakura looked contemplative, obviously torn between being inside were she could write, or being with Sasuke.

"I'll work with the bird" Sakura decided.

"Alright!" I exclaimed, "So it's me and Fairy Princess!"

Sasuke glowered at me again.

"I know I'm lucky to be alive right now" I chirped. Judging by Sasuke's expression that was the message he was trying to relay to me.

"We should start now" Kakashi stated dully.

I nodded, skipping outside.

The garden was surrounded cliché white picket white fence. Inside it were a great number of flowery plants and a few prickly looking weeds.

"This really doesn't look like much work, eh Sasuke?" I commented.

"We have to water everything" Sasuke pointed out blandly, nodding at a small green watering can in the corner.

"You make this sound like a problem."

Sasuke shook his head, shoving open the gate.

"I'll water today, you pull weeds" I offered, snatching the watering can.

Sasuke nodded slightly, crouching down near the gate.

We worked in silence, well, semi-silence. I decided that humming seemed like a good idea.

"Would you shut up?" Sasuke snapped after a few brief moments.

"If the Fairy Princess wishes it to be so, I suppose" I sighed dramatically.

"Could you stop calling me that?" Sasuke requested foully.

"Would you rather I come up with other nicknames for you?" I inquired lightly, my mind already whirling with ideas.

Mr. McEmo.

Sas-gay (Ah, the classics).

You're Highness.

Lord-of- the-fan-girl-army.

Now that I think about it, Sasuke probably could control a legion of army fan girls. It would make for a great battle. Ninja's against the wrath of angry fan girls.

The ninja's would so be dead.

Sasuke remained silent.

"Yeah, I thought so" I muttered triumphantly.

"So, when are you and this Alice girl going to sneak off?" I asked nonchalantly.

"I don't know, I haven't really talked to her since we arrived" Sasuke informed me.

"Oh, is it complicated?" I teased.

"She has work to do" Sasuke deadpanned.

"Was the girl in the maid's outfit Alice?" I inquired, feeling the need to ask.

"Yeah."

"Knew it!" I sang.

Sasuke didn't reply to my last comment. I smirked. Looks like he had no response to my genius.

We worked until lunch, by that time we were finished, and went inside to eat.

"Are we cooking lunch?" Naruto asked us worriedly, like it was a life or death matter.

"If by 'we' you mean 'me' than yes" Sasuke stated blankly trudging past Naruto into the kitchen.

"Yay for Fairy Princess!" I cheered. Thank God Sasuke knew how to cook, because, otherwise, we'd all either be living off of my cooking, pizzas or some charred remains of burnt food.

"How did you even come up with that nickname?" Kakashi asked, eyeing my curiously.

"Do you really want to know?" I shot back.

Kakashi paused thoughtfully, contemplating this. "Not really" He decided.

"Didn't think so" I muttered.

"You got any plans for this afternoon?" I inquired nonchalantly. Not like I really cared. It didn't really matter to me how Kakashi spent his afternoons. Seriously.

Then, Sasuke's voice entered my head. _"It's called denial for a reason."_

I scowled mentally. Damn Sasuke.

"I'm going to exploring for a bit. You know, see what's going on locally, maybe visit a bookstore or two" Kakashi replied blankly.

"So, I'm left alone with these three?" I clarified, an edge of panic in my voice as I made a wild gesture towards the three teens.

Sakura was on a nearby chair, sketchbook in hand.

Naruto was, by the looks of it, posing for her.

Sasuke was in the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge.

Kakashi nodded.

"Arrgghh. Curse you!" I complained loudly, stomping into the kitchen.

"Stupid asshole that Kakashi. Damn bastard" I grumbled, pulling out a chair from the table and swinging my legs over it.

"I take it your mad at Kakashi" Sasuke guessed, face still buried in the fridge.

"No really?" I said sarcastically.

"What this time?"

"He's ditching me with you guys!" I moaned, like it was the end of the world. Which, for whatever scraps of sanity was left, it probably was.

"Oh the horror" Sasuke muttered dully.

"Oh yes! Mock my pain!" I exclaimed, feigning hurt.

Sasuke emerged from the fridge, one arm cradling various types of food.

"What's for lunch dear?" I asked jokingly.

"Casserole" Sasuke deadpanned, dropping everything on the counter, "And, you know, if you keep acting the way you do towards me people are going to come the conclusion you're a pedo."

"But I'm not," I pointed out. Of course, I could kind of see why people would think that. It wasn't true though.

"I'm the only one that knows how you feel about Kakashi" Sasuke reminded me, rather loudly.

"HUSH UP!" I snapped, also really loudly.

Kakashi stuck his head into the kitchen, staring at the both of us with smooth swishes of his head. "What's wrong."

"Sasuke's being a douchebag!" I moaned, pointing an accusing finger at the raven-haired boy in the corner.

At the exact moment I said this, Sasuke pointed at me and said "Akiko's being a nuisance!"

"Douchebag!" I shot at him.

"Nuisance!" He shot back, glaring at me.

Kakashi strode in calmly. "Calm down kids, calm down"

I scowled. I was not a kid.

Kakashi caught my facial expression, seemingly guessed my thoughts, and responded with a: "You're acting like one."

Shaking my head, I stood up abruptly and began to leave, "I'm going to chat with Sakura."

She wasn't high on my favorite people list, but it was her or Naruto. Sakura won in that.

Naruto was sitting on a couch in the living room.

"Where's Sakura?" I inquired.

"Her room" Naruto mumbled, sounding like he had a mouthful of food.

"Alrighty!" I chirped striding off.

I managed to find my way safely into her room and burst in boldly.

"Hi Sakura!" I cooed.

Sakura was sitting with her knees up on the bed, what looked like her sketchbook resting on her knees.

As her head shot up, she looked flustered and vaguely startled.

"Whatcha looking at?" I asked, flopping down on the foot of the bed.

"The newspaper" Sakura replied

My mouth made an 'o' shape. No yaoi today? It was a good thing, but she had been drawing for the past three days. Why stop now?

"There's a horror movie marathon on Wednesday" Sakura informed me, oblivious to my shock at the lack of yaoi.

I attempted to recover my composure. "R-really now?"

Sakura nodded absently, "Yeup. You wanna go?"

I gulped. My past experiences with horror movies had both ended with me being kissed by Kakashi, and I wasn't sure I wanted that to happen again.

Okay, maybe I wanted it to happen again, I just wasn't sure if it was a good idea.

Sakura was staring at me expectantly. Obviously, she wanted my feelings towards it.

I considered saying no, but then I realized that if I did, I would be stuck with Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi, which would no doubt be less fun than the movies.

"Sure" I agreed nonchalantly. I had a sinking feeling that this was going to be…awkward.

Sakura grinned brightly and turned her head back to the paper. "Call me when lunch is ready."

I took that as my cue to leave and did so, being as steathly as possible.

A little known side effect of being overlysteathly when it's not needed is tuning out other people and being convinced your invisible.

Completely oblivious to anything besides the location of the walls, I slunk along on the balls of my feet, preparing myself for anything odd the three males of our team could throw at me.

Anything, that is, besides Kakashi.

As I walked down the hallway like a person in a cliché spy movie, a warm, solid body abruptly stopped me. I fell to the ground in mild surprise.

Kakashi clucked an unimpressed nanny, staring down at me in amusement.

"Look when you walk" Kakashi suggested.

I blinked.

"Do you want to go around bumping into people willy-nilly?" Kakashi continued.

I blinked again.

"Because, serious-" I cut him off.

"You threw off my groove!" I screeched accusingly.

It was Kakashi's turn to blink. "I was just going to tell you I'm going out and that lunch is ready."

"Oh" I murmured.

Kakashi extended his hand towards me.

I clasped my hand into his, making sure it make a resounding 'smack' noise, before he hauled me off the ground.

Turning around, I cupped my hands to my mouth.

"LUNCH-TIME!" I bellowed as loud as my lungs could handle.

Kakashi clapped his hands over his hands a little too late. "What as that?" He demanded as he slowly lowered his hands.

"Sakura wanted me to tell her when lunch was" I explained innocently with a tiny shrug.

Kakashi rolled his eye slowly.

"Where are you going?" I asked politely.

"Around" Kakashi replied.

My mind scrambled to make a quick mental translation.

If I were Kakashi, where would I go while on a mission in the Sand Village?

The bar, was my first guess considering who was on said mission with him.

That or he was going to avoid giving Naruto the talk.

Both were equally likely.

I didn't say anything to him about. Let him keep his feeling of sneakiness while he was drinking.

Kakashi placed one of his large on my head, tousling my hair lightly.

My face turned a rather unsightly hue of tomato red and I averted my eyes towards my feet awkwardly. Kakashi laughed slightly then attempted to cover it, obviously trying to keep me from being more flustered.

"See you later" He said happily, hand still ruffling my hair, "Don't burn the house down."

I slapped his wrist down, off of my head. "I won't" I huffed childishly.

Kakashi rubbed his wrist, wincing slightly. "You didn't have to hit me so hard" He complained.

I flushed slightly, feeling guilty now.

Oh, how I hated blushing. It was so _obvious_. If Kakashi hadn't realized how I felt, he was frighteningly dense.

I walked past Kakashi as quick as I could without running, keeping my head low.

By the time I made it to the kitchen, my blush had resided…somewhat, and I was looking foreword to a hearty meal.

Sasuke tossed a plate gracefully onto the table, complete with casserole.

My eye's widened in momentary amazement.

How did he throw that far with such presesion? He was standing by the sink for pete's sake."WHOA!" I gasped, "That was awesome!"

"Sure" Sasuke grunted.

"Ah, gruff as usual Fairy Princess" I teased, standing up to snatch a fork.

Ah, but which drawer? Which one?

Sasuke's hand shot out, offering me a fork before I could start rummaging through all the drawers and make a huge mess.

"Thanks" I said, snatching it and rushing back to the table.

I savored the cheesy taste of the casserole. It was delicious.

For a brief moment I wondered why someone like Sasuke could cook like that, but then it sunk in that Sasuke had lived alone for quite some time. He had to know how to cook.

"Sasuke, you make a mean casserole" I complemented.

"Better than anything you could make?" Naruto asked.

I nodded. I _can_ cook, it's a lot of work though.

"Thanks" Sasuke said, turning the tap for the sink on. The sound of rushing water filled the room.

"Chef Sasuke" I muttered with a smile.

"Another nickname?" Sasuke moaned

"You betcha…."

I smirked devilishly,

"Sas-gay."

* * *

**No offense meant to Sasuke. It;s just so easy to make up nicknames for him. **

**On another note, have you guys noticed that whenever Akiko watches a horror movie shortly after she gets kissed by Kakashi. I honestly didn't realize that till this chapter. Who knows, maybe this whole thing will keep up Oo;**

**Well, I've got to keep this short, y'know, with school and all. Speaking of which, how's school going for you guys? If anyone has any stories, I wanna hear him. I gotta find things to compare my school's insanity too. **

**Actually, if anyone just wants to ramble about nothing, I'll read that too...I have nothing else to do most of the time.**

**Okay, I'm done...now!**

**R&R, cause it just makes my day.**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	29. Exploring

**Well, it's late, so I'll keep this brief. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, because, well, I'm not telling:P**

**OMFG! Halloween is coming up soon! I went scouting with my family today so I decided which places I had to go to. Its a great skill to know which houses to go trick or treating at. Always go for the old people, they're normally more generous, and family friends. ^.^ I put a lot of thought into this.**

* * *

"I'm bored" moaned Naruto loudly.

My eyes flickered to him for a moment, before I turned my attention back to the wall. I was at a loss as to what to do. Kakashi had left and would no doubt be back late. Which left me as the babysitter.

"Read a book" I suggested dully.

"That's no fun!" Naruto complained.

"Yeah. We should be training" Sasuke agreed.

My jaw dropped. Did they just…agree on something.

"Ah! Buh-wha?" I stammered, my finger flying wildly between the two boys.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow quizzically at me. I glared back. Stupid kid.

"We do have to do something" Sakura pointed out, deciding to jump into the conversation.

I was struck by a brilliant idea.

"LET'S GO EXPLORING!" I exclaimed.

"Exploring?" questioned Sasuke.

I nodded earnestly. "I can go get a cell phone."

"So, you want to go shopping" Sasuke clarified.

"We can go bowling too" I suggested, eyes wide.

"Bowling?" Naruto asked eagerly.

I nodded.

"LET'S GO!" Naruto agreed.

Jumping up, I pumped my fist in the air. "Get your coats on kids!" I exclaimed.

"In the middle of the desert?" Sasuke pointed out.

I lowered my hand slowly. "Then don't get your coats on" I said with a shrug.

And thus, we didn't get our coats and we went exploring.

Our first stop was a phone store.

"So, Sasuke, what am I looking for in a cell-phone?" I asked him as we walked into the store calmly.

"Something durable in your case" Sasuke muttered sarcastically.

"Something durable" I noted, ignoring his sarcasm.

"Something with free texting!" Sakura piped up. She hadn't brought her sketchbook with her, and was thus on the ball.

"That's part of phone plan" Sasuke informed her knowledgeably.

"Smart-ass" Naruto snapped.

"Dumb-ass" Sasuke retorted.

Rolling my eyes, I continued into the store. Seems like they would forever be fighting.

Picking out the phone was an arduous task, because all three of them had their own phone opinions.

Eventually, though, it was done and I was left with a sleek, shiny black phone. It was made out of a hard plastic that I made a show of dropping outside to prove to Sasuke that it was durable.

We never did get around to bowling though. Naruto decided we should go out for ramen.

We managed to get a table for four and just kind of sat around while Naruto ravenously consumed numerous bowls of his favorite food.

"So" I began slowly, "You guys have any idea why Kakashi wears his mask everywhere?"

Sakura shrugged, "No idea. It is weird though."

"Don't Japanese gang bosses wear masks?" Sasuke pointed out.

"Are you implying that Kakashi's a Japanese gang boss?" I asked.

"Wouldn't put it past him" Naruto muttered through a mouthful of ramen.

"Don't talk with your mouth full" I scolded in a motherly tone.

Naruto shut his mouth promptly. "Mmmphff" he grunted in agreement.

"Well, for all we know he could be" Sasuke stated simply.

Looks like we were back to the gang boss topic.

"Yeah" Sakura agreed, "It's not like he really tells us anything about himself."

"Hn" I grunted not all that amazed. Kakashi didn't really strike me as the type to talk about that sort of thing.

"All he's ever told us is that all the people important to him are dead" Naruto reminded the group after swallowing loudly.

"How emo" I muttered. I wasn't sure how true that was. It would really suck on Kakashi's part. Maybe I should try to be nicer to him. Then again, that would probably just make things awkward.

"More ramen please" Naruto requested loudly.

"More?" Sakura was incredulous.

"He's obviously making up for the lack of ramen for the next little while" I explained rationally.

"What?" Naruto squeaked.

"You're going on a diet" I informed him solemnly, repressing a teasing smile.

Sasuke snickered evilly as he heard that.

"A-a diet!" Naruto sputtered.

"You're going to a die an early death with all the ramen you eat" I stated bluntly. Seriously though, ramen had so much salt, Naruto was probably going to die an early death.

"On second thought, keep on eating it" Sasuke commanded.

I laughed loudly. Life without Naruto didn't sound all too terrible.

I didn't mean for that to sound so cruel, I swear.

Naruto ate three more bowls of ramen before I decided we should leave before he was broke. I still ended up paying for some of it too.

Back at Gaara's place, we went back to sitting in endless boredom.

"How late do you think Kakashi-sensei will be out?" Sakura mused.

"Late, probably" I sighed.

Sasuke nodded absently, finger's flying away at his cell-phone again.

Suddenly my phone, which I had crammed into my pants pocket, began to vibrate violent.

Flinching in mild surprise, I grabbed the phone and flipped it open. I was greeted with a message, from Sasuke.

"He's at the bar, isn't he?"

I nodded at Sasuke dully.

Sasuke shook his head shamefully. "I'm going to have a shower."

Sakura, who had retrieved her notebook, was seemingly struck by a marvelous idea.

I sighed and shuddered. Somehow I didn't think I wanted to see what she was drawing.

I sat aimlessly in the kitchen, slouched into a chair with my legs draped casually onto the clean table, while the three teens moved to and fro.

When Sasuke reentered the kitchen, Sakura had disappeared, leaving only a pile of discarding papers, some with drawings on them.

As Sasuke walked in, his eyes caught on the papers.

I watched warily as Sasuke snatched the one on the top of the pile and skimmed it over.

I had briefly had a glimpse of what had been on the paper, and, by the looks it of; it was a very steamy kiss scene. I shuddered, creepy right?

Sasuke seemingly thought different however. "Hmm" He murmured, "Interesting."

My eyes widened. He didn't see the resemblance? How could he not?!

Naturally I was starting to think I was the only one with a tiny shred of sanity left. A shred of sanity that disappeared shortly after Sasuke said his next sentence.

Turning to me, face deadly calm, Sasuke told me some interesting news, "Kakashi has a cell phone."

"Where?" I asked all seriousness.

Sasuke paused thoughtfully. "I think it's in his room somewhere."

Then, I paused. How did Sasuke know this? It wasn't like he was some all knowing god or something. Maybe he was a stalker. Hmm…I could see that.

"Are you shitting me?" I blurted out.

"No" Sasuke's eyes were wide with honesty.

"Let's go find it!" I exclaimed, leaping out of seat and tumbling to the ground.

"I'm'a 'kay!" I mumbled into the linoleum floors.

I could practically hear Sasuke roll his eyes.

Leaping up, we continued on our way. The closer we got to Kakashi's room the lower I got to the floor. Sasuke continued to stride normally beside me, making me look like more of an idiot then I already did.

Sasuke flung open the door and walked in. I did a cliché James Bond roll in.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke queried as he watched me stand up and crouch down to the ground..

"Being steathly!"

"You're an idiot."

"Shh" I hushed him, "You don't want to get caught do you?"

"Caught by whom, the dust bunnies?"

I scowled up at him. Stupid Sasuke and his stupid good grammar. "You don't how dangerous they can get" I hissed.

Sasuke shook his head. He was, quite clearly, ashamed at my antics. Of course, quite often I was ashamed of myself too.

It was then that I saw it. Navy blue, sleek and shiny. A cell phone. Using my flawless deduction skills, I decided on the conclusion it was Kakashi's.

After all, Sakura wouldn't have a blue phone, I had seen Sasuke's, and Naruto was too much of a douche to have a phone.

Also, why the hell would any of them leave their phone in Kakashi's room?

"Any time now" Sasuke said impatiently.

I stood up straight. "Fine fine."

Quickly I snatched Kakashi's phone and flipped it open. It had to be the most generic phone I had ever seen, ever. The background was the simple backdrop you oh so often see.

I quickly found out his number and programmed his number into my. I decided that it was a bad idea to but my number into his phone. After all phones did have caller id.

I was careful to put the phone back in almost exactly the same place. I wouldn't put it past Kakashi to remember exactly how he had left the phone.

"Let's skee-dadle!" I commanded grabbing Sasuke's arm and dragging him out of the room.

I dragged him into the main room, which was comfortably furnished with two couches, a small television, and a wooden door to the outside world. Ick.

Sakura and Naruto were already sitting in the room. Sakura had her sketchbook clutched tightly against her chest, and was snapping irritably at Naruto about something. Presumably the contents of her sketchbook.

"You guys even bothered with the T.V?" I queried, swinging my legs over the back of the couch.

Naruto's eyes widened as I mentioned it. Heh, guess the idea had never occurred to him.

Sasuke strutted over to the television, upon which rested the remote. Snatching the remote, Sasuke lazily flicked on the T.V.

Oh joys, news.

"Wait wait wait!" Sakura halted Sasuke before he changed the station; "This is stuff for Konoha!"

"Hn" Sasuke grunted nonchalantly, waltzing over to the couch and plopping down.

Our eyes all trained onto the television, we watched patiently as the weather, which was of on importance to us at the moment, was announced.

I was partially expecting for there to have been another murder recently, but they didn't report on anything new.

Of course, this was a good thing. No one had died, and Kakashi wasn't going to want to go back to help.

Slowly but surely the others filtered out of the room, leaving me along to stare blankly at the T.V.

I wondered when Kakashi was going to get back, it was almost 1:30 in the morning. By know it was a confirmed thing he was at the bar.

My eyelids had just started to flicker shut when I heard the door open with a slow creak. I opened my eyes with a start.

Of course, it was either Kakashi, or a burglar.

I was fairly certain it was going to be Kakashi.

Kakashi stumbled in, looking rather tipsy. "Hey babe" He slurred.

Jumping up, I walked over towards him, cringing as I got closer. He reeked of alcohol. "Your drunk" I stated, not needing to ask him.

"Yes" Kakashi agreed in a deep voice while flicking his fingers towards me.

I wasn't sure if he was trying to be cool or not, but if he was, he was failing miserably. He looked like a loser.

"I could really go for some cheese right now" Kakashi informed me.

I shook my head, walking towards the kitchen. Kakashi trailed me like a lost puppy.

There were a few processed cheese slices in one of the fridge drawers, which I then proceeded to toss at Kakashi. I stifled back laughter as I saw him try, and fail, to catch the oncoming wave of cheese slices.

"You didn't have to throw them at me!" Kakashi huffed angrily, bending down to pick up the cheese slices.

After having successfully retrieved the cheese slices from the floor, Kakashi stumbled forward as he tried to stand up straight. Unfortunately this involved taking me down with him.

"Well hullo" Kakashi slurred, staring down at me.

I frowned up at him, blushing. My back was sore from hitting the floor tile, and the fact that Kakashi was looming directly above me wasn't helping me at all.

"You…plan on moving anytime soon?" I inquired, eyebrow raised.

Chuckling drunkenly, he rolled off of me.

I lay in silence, while Kakashi continued to chuckle.

There was a sudden crinkling noise and I turned to face Kakashi. He was fumbling with the cheese wrapper. I watched in mild amusement as he eventually succeeded to open the wrapper, but failed to shove it into his mouth. The idiot's mask was still on.

Kakashi grunted in frustration and sat up. "Can't get the stupid piece of cheese in my mouth" He grumbled.

Laughing audibly now, I too sat up. Leaning towards Kakashi, I smiled softly. He was an idiot drunk. But, as weird as it was to admit, he was a cute idiot.

"Dummy, your mask is still on" I explained, reaching out and gently pulling down the mask.

What I saw next was a new sight for me. Once the mask was down, I noticed something I hadn't seen before. Across the bridge of Kakashi's nose, a slight pink tinge was appearing. He was blushing.

"You're blushing" I stated, amazed.

Kakashi's blush turned a deeper shade of pink, almost red, and I started laughing.

Kakashi stared at me, then huffed childishly. "Don't mock me!"

I bit my lip to stifle the laughter. He was like a kid. "I'm not" I lied.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes suspiciously, taking a bite of cheese out of the corner of his mouth.

It was time for a change of topic before I burst out laughing again.

"Sasuke told me you once told them that all the people you cared for were dead. It made you sound very emo".

Staring at me pointedly, Kakashi flashed a charming, yet drunken smile. "I'm not sure how true that statement is anymore."

His words, catching me off guard, made a red flush cover my cheeks.

It was Kakashi's turn to laugh. "Now you're the one blushing!"

I frowned at him. "Shut up."

He continued to laugh, until I was starting to feel slightly irked.

Standing up, I glared at him sternly. "Bedtime mister."

"Only if you come with me." Kakashi was back to using the same deep tone he had earlier.

My cheeks flushed redder, now burning.

Kakashi, seemingly unable to stand up, extended his hand up towards me.

I clasped my hand around his and hauled him up slowly. He was lighter than he looked. Kakashi draped his arm around my shoulders and leant on me for support.

I decided to take pity on him because he was drunk.

When we entered his room, Kakashi flopped down on the bed face-first. Patting the other side of the bed vigorously he turned his head to look at me. "Lie down."

I obliged, flicking off the lights before curling up on the bed underneath the blankets. I made sure my back was facing Kakashi.

Seemingly content, I could hear Kakashi's breathing start to slow. I tried to make myself relax, but my heartbeat was beating faster than normal and the blush was seemingly staying.

My eyelids had just started to close and my heartbeat was starting to return to normal when all of a sudden an arm was draped over my shoulder and I felt something warm press against my back.

My pulse sped up again. Tilting my head back slightly, my blush deepened. Kakashi's chest was pressed against my back, and his arm was now wrapped around my waist and holding me there like I was an oversized teddy bear.

Kakashi's warm breath tickled the back of my neck and I shivered involuntarily.

As much as I wanted to pull away, I didn't. Kakashi looked calm and peaceful, and not stressed in the least.

Although, the meaner side knew one thing that made up for the awkwardness of it all.

Kakashi was going to have a hell of a hangover the next day.

**Well, I threw in fluff, and cheese! **

**"I'm not sure how true that statement is anymore" Was that a confession? A crappy, nondirect one.**

**:) I'll update soon. Hopefully. If Halloween doesn't distract me too much. Gotta go make sure my Waldo costume is ready to go!**

**R&R For free candy? Trick Or Treat?**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	30. How Much Is That Boy In The Closet?

**Kyaa~! Woo! I'm pulling out on an update just before I leave for track, and for track I'm wearing my Moko-chan (Tsubasa RC) hat ^.^**

* * *

Thankfully, I woke up earlier than Kakashi, and managed to safely stumble out of the room and retreat to the relative safety of my own. I could still feel my cheeks burning, with any luck Kakashi wouldn't remember what had happened last night.

I hid in my room, sprawled facedown on my bed for as long as I felt I should. Which was an estimated three, maybe four hours before I left.

Needless to say, I was mildly surprised to find Kakashi awake and poking an egg yolk warily as I walked into the kitchen.

Naturally, considering the state he was in last night, he looked a little worse for wear.

"Glad too see you're up and about!" I chirped, sitting down next to him. I felt a grin twitch on my lips as I saw him cringe slightly as my boisterous tone invaded his thoughts.

"Hn?" He grunted, seemingly through clenched teeth.

I pursed my lips. He didn't remember anything, did he? I suppressed a smirk. I could have a bit of fun with this.

"You don't remember?" I accused lightly, regarding him with what I thought was relatively close to severity.

"Remember what?" Kakashi inquired warily. There was look of worry in his eye.

I held back a snort, "Wow, you really were piss drunk last night."

Kakashi looked at me curiously. "You were awake?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. One would think a ninja would have better memory. "Yeah, you're a strange drunk, y'know that" I informed him. Rather abruptly, all the stupid lines Kakashi had said to me rushed through my head, but one stayed for a moment longer than the others.

"_I'm not sure how true that statement is anymore"_

A faint blush spread across my cheeks.

What the hell did that mean? What was he hinting at?

"I didn't" Kakashi paused, as if looking for a way to word his next statement, "Do anything to you, did I?"

I blinked. Define 'do anything'. 'Cause if it meant what I thought it meant, then no, not all. But one could never tell what Kakashi meant by something.

They way Kakashi was starring at me it seem almost as if he was worried about me.

"Nope, nothing" I assured him.

Kakashi looked visibly relieved, and I think I may have heard him mutter 'good' under his breath.

We sat in silence as I leaned my head back against the back of the chair, feet swinging onto the table lazily. I noticed suddenly that Kakashi's fingers were massaging his temples slowly.

"Hangover?" I guessed airily, although I'd seen it coming.

Kakashi grunted in response.

Oh yes, grunting. Attractive response right there.

"How the hell are you going to handle Naruto today?" I pointed out with a smirk.

"Don't even bring that up" He moaned.

I chortled, patting the spikes of his hair. "I wish you luck, now I'm going to go wake up the little bastards."

With that, I left Kakashi alone to deal with the hangover that was no doubt making his head throb.

I burst into the teen's room recklessly. I didn't think anyone would actually be awake, but Sasuke was, sitting on the floor staring at his phone.

"Texting your girlfriend?" I guessed teasingly.

"Yeah" Sasuke replied bluntly.

I quirked an eyebrow. Admitting it that easily? That was un-Sasuke like.

"When are we going about this whole 'sneaking you out on a date' thing?" I inquired', tilting my head to the side.

"Meh, today?" Sasuke asked in return.

"Well, your dumbass sensei got himself a nasty hangover, so maybe leaving him alone with Naruto and Sakura isn't the brightest idea" I explained with a groan.

A part of me felt sorry for Kakashi, being stuck with us the whole day. Maybe I could go pick up so Advil later or something.

I stalked back into the kitchen, only to rustle about through the fridge as noisily as humanly possible. I could feel the death glares Kakashi was shooting at me.

Later on that day, when Sasuke and I were gardening, we began to form our plan.

"Groceries?" I suggested.

"Why would I have to go with?" Sasuke pointed out.

Damn sane Sasuke.

"Err" I paused to think while I attempted to pull out a pesky weed. "You need special 'lady' products."

I withheld a snort after that comment. I always found joy in making fun of Sasuke.

I felt something soft make contact with the back of my head. As I turned to see what Sasuke had thrown at me, I felt a bit of dirt fall out of my hair and down the back of my shirt. So he either threw a dirt clod or a weed.

As my gaze shifted to Sasuke, who was glaring at me with a smirk at his tiny victory, I scowled at him.

"Bastard, you got dirt down the back of my shirt."

Snickering, Sasuke folded his arms over his chest.

I was starting to get the feeling that was his intentions.

"How drunk was Kakashi last night?" Sasuke asked, changing the subject to avoid be being further insulted by me.

"Piss drunk. It was weeeirrd" I offered, pulling out the final weed I could see.

I clapped my hands in satisfaction. Next up, watering. Which, conveniently, was Sasuke's job.

I sauntered over to the picket fence, leaned against, and watched as Sasuke filled the watering can.

"Any kind of blackmail?" Sasuke inquired.

I frowned. Damn, that was actually a good idea.

"Nah" I shook my head, "I wish."

"I feel sorry for the poor girl who has to put up with him" Sasuke muttered.

I blinked. For the most part, wasn't 'the poor girl' _me?_ Then, I furrowed my brow. What was he implying?

Sasuke watched me in amusement as I mulled over any hidden meanings. When I could find none, I decided to continue talking.

"Me too" I nodded in agreement, "She'd be cleaning up non-stop."

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow curiously.

"He's a slob" I explained.

"And you know this….?" Sasuke left the question hanging.

Darnit, should've changed the subject when I could. Stupid hindsight.

Oh well, might as well be partially honest.

"I've been to his house a few times, the man is an utter slob. It took me hours to clean" I explained. No mention of the kiss, nor the fact I stayed for night.

"Why'd you clean his house?" Sasuke was frowning skeptically at me.

"It was a mess, even I couldn't stand it."

Sasuke cringed.

It's always a bad thing when I call something a mess.

I shook my head, dismissing the topic. "Anyway!"

Sasuke focused his attention back onto watering and we worked the next little while in silence.

It only took another twenty minutes and we were inside. I skipped off towards Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura's room was, leaving Sasuke to explain the whole 'grocery shopping' thing.

We needed a decoy for Sasuke when we went out. Like the whole stuffing pillows under the blanket people always do in movies. It wasn't needed, but it would be fun.

But what could I use to resemble Sasuke's hair?

I wracked for my brain for an answer, but could come up with none.

Then, just as I had given up, there was a loud thud against the window. I turned my head just in time to see a raven slid down the window.

I smirked. That'd do.

Walking to the window, I pried it open. Thankfully, we were on the first floor, so if I leaned out just a bit I can grab the raven (Which, luckily, was dead). Carefully, I picked it up; careful not to shake loose any stray feathers. It took a fair amount of attempts to position it on the pillow so it looked like Sasuke, but I pulled it off. Then I stuffed the pillows under the blank. I stepped back to admire my walk.

Sasuke's hair vaguely resembled a dead raven. Odd.

Once my job was done, Sasuke and I set off. Apparently we were to meet Alice at a Wacdonalds.

Joy, fatty foods at cheap prices.

When Alice walked in, I was a little surprised to see her in normal clothing. She was wearing a T-shirt and denim shorts.

I hung around for a while, making pointless conversation.

"My mom died when I was younger, my dad's been in Konoha since I was six. He moved to earn some money for us" Alice was explained at her seat around the table we were gathered about.

Apparently we were telling life stories.

"Basically though, my little brother and I were left to fend for ourselves. Which is why I'm a maid. Yuki, my brother, wanders the house most of the time. We have a room in a building outback."

I couldn't help but notice how that last comment was directed towards Sasuke.

"How old is your brother?" I inquired, hoping to be spared from any further attempts at either flirting, or somewhat sexual comments.

"Eleven" Alice replied absently. She was still staring absently as Sasuke.

I shoved my chair away from the table violent. The screeching noise that made brought grimaces to the faces of everyone in the general area.

"You kids have fun, I'm going to go buy food." And Advil, I added silently. "I'll just tell Kakashi you were out…doing.." I bit my lip thoughtfully. "Jogging" I decided. Or maybe my decoy could come in handy. I smirked. That'd be fun.

With that I skipped off to the store, snatching some various assortments of cereals, a jug of milk, and bread. Just as I was about to walk up the checkout line, I remembered one of the items on my list. Advil. Skipping off to the pharmacy while attempting not to slip on the polished floor was not an easy task, but all the same I managed. If you didn't count the old man I almost skidded into while I stopped.

None the less, shortly after I was leaving the store with a bag of groceries in hand and heading back towards the house we were staying at. The streets of Suna were crowded, and I caught a few glimpses of quite a few men in the alleys smoking something. It didn't look like a cigarette. And those said smokers were all eyeing me like I was a lollipop on display in a candy store. It made me feel unnerved. But that's the general effect a druggie/rapist-looking person would have I suspect.

Thing was though, they were everywhere! I picked up my pace as I heard soft "Check out that orange-haired-chick." If they tried something, I would quite easily kick the shit out of them. However, it didn't seem like a good idea at moment. For one, I already felt out of place considering how pale my skin was compared to the tanned skins of the locals. It was like I was an under-baked chocolate-chip cookie, while everyone else was actually safe to eat. Not like I would _eat_ any of the locals. That would probably cause a stir. You get my point though; I was out of place.

My pace quickened as I went down the road, I didn't run, or job, I just used that panicked speed walk that is often seen used by a lady at the mall racing for a sale.

Then, the house came into view.

Bursting into the living room with reckless abandon I exclaimed: "I'm HO-M-E!"

"Ngghh.." Was the only response.

I quirked an eyebrow. The sign of human life besides me in the room was Kakashi's feet, hanging off the armrest of the couch.

Where were Sakura and Naruto? Then I shrugged. Might as well harass Kakashi while I could.

"I bought you something!" I sang gleefully, skipping over towards the back of the couch and peering over.

Kakashi groaned. "What?"

I reached into the bag, rummaging loudly as I did so. Might as well enjoy his suffering while I could.

Then my fingers wrapped around a plastic container. "Found it" I sing-songed.

"Your enjoying this aren't you?" Kakashi eyed me dryly.

Smiling in response I pulled out the bottle of Advil with a flourish and dropped it onto his chest. "I figured you might that" I informed him.

Kakashi picked up the bottle and stood up. I frowned. No 'Thank you'? Jack ass.

Walking, or stumbling dazedly, Kakashi walked over to me, still silent.

"Your welcome" I muttered foully.

Kakashi threw his arms around me gleefully, thoroughly catching me off guard.

"Err….Kakashi" I squirmed awkwardly in his grip, "Your welcome, you can let me go now."

Kakashi pulled away slowly. "Thank you!" He seemed relieved, although I saw him cringe at the loudness of his own voice, "Maybe I can at least tolerate the next few hours with Naruto."

I bit my lip and looked down, attempting to hid a blush. "Yeah, yeah you're welcome." I didn't like the way my heart was pounding in my chest, or how hot my face felt. How hard had I fallen for him?

"I'm uhh…going to go have a shower" I muttered, wheeling around and walked off quickly.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, and Kakashi managed to deal with Naruto. Sasuke came back just before supper, made sandwiches and disappeared somewhere.

I sat in silence in my room afterwards, knees pulled into my chest. Stupid emotions.

A loud girly shriek broke into my thoughts. I frowned, not really bothering to move. Either Naruto or Sakura had found the dead raven. As I found out shortly later, it was Sakura who found the bird. Sticking her head through the open door nervously, Sakura looked terrified.

"Sensei, there's a dead raven on Sasuke's pillow" Sakura pointed out weakly.

"Oh there's no worry!" I assured her vigorously, waving my hand in a dismissive manner.

Sakura looked visibly relieved and she smiled softly.

I had to add something to scare her.

"It's not like it's going to, you know, come to life and kill you or something" I continued with a smile. I made sure there was something false about my tone and smile.

Sakura's smile faded.

I smirked. Now she'd no doubt be afraid. "Get Naruto to move it" I suggested.

Sakura nodded, sensing that I wasn't going to anything about it. Which I wasn't, so her guess wasn't exactly a lie.

I frowned suddenly. I heard a noise. It sounded like deep breathing. I held my breath to make sure it wasn't me. It wasn't.

I jumped up and landed in a crouching position. I checked every nook and cranny of my room. No one was there. Which left the closet. I walked over and tentatively I pulled open the door.

What the hell was going on?

There was a young boy curled up tightly into a ball. His gray hair shielded his eyes.

"What the fu-" I stopped myself, realizing I was talking to a child, "What are you doing in my closet?"

"Sitting" He responded blankly. He didn't even look up.

"Why?" I questioned. I was feeling a little unnerved because of the boy.

"The voices told me too" His monotonous voice said simply, like that was the answer to everything. "They're nice" He added, "They always talk to me."

I blinked. That's it. I couldn't any more. I closed the door and promptly stomped out of the room. Before I knew where I was even heading I was in front of Kakashi's door. Screw politeness. I barged in violently, causing Kakashi to sit up straight in the chair he was slumped into. It looked like he was napping.

"Akiko? What the hell are you doing?" He mumbled blearily.

"I'm staying here again tonight!" I proclaimed loudly, throwing myself onto the bed with a soft thud.

"Why?" Kakashi questioned. Then he paused, "Wait again?"

I sat up and folded my legs over each other. "Yeah, I was here last night" I smiled lightly. Might as well make him worry.

I sat in silence. It was amusing to watch him try and remember what had happened last night.

"Anyway!" I continued after a short of while, "I'm staying here because there's a little boy in my closet who hears voices."

"What?" Kakashi was looking at me curiously. It was obvious he thought I was crazy.

"There. Is. A. Little. Boy. In. My. Closet" I repeated, slowly this time.

After a pause I realized he didn't believe me. I sighed, leaping off the bed, grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards my room.

"I'm serious!" I insisted, dragging him along towards the closet.

Kakashi pulled away and reached for the closet's handle.

"Oh come on Akiko, there is not…."

Kakashi trailed off as he flung upon the door and his gaze settled upon the boy.

"I stand corrected."

Kakashi turned to face me, "You can stay in my room."

"Thanks."

As I trailed him out of the room, I heard the boy call: "Does this meant the room is mine?"

I ignored him.

Once in Kakashi's room, the shinobi wheeled on me.

"What did you mean, again?" He demanded.

"I stayed in here last night" I raised an eyebrow. What else would that mean?

"But you said I didn't do anything to you" Kakashi reminded.

"But you didn't!" I said.

He was acting oddly angry. I didn't get why.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow. "What?"

"You refused to go to bed unless I stayed in your room with you, so I did, and I fell asleep" I elaborated.

"So, nothing happened?"

I shook my head. What was the big deal? I could hold my own. Maybe not against Kakashi if he was going all out, but if was drunk he wouldn't be hard to hold off. None the less he looked like he needed reassuring.

I patted his shoulder, "Nothing happened. Calm down mister."

"Good" Kakashi nodded firmly. Then he stifled a yawn.

"You should go to bed" I commanded sternly.

Stifling another yawn, Kakashi replied: "Why is that?"

I scowled. "Honest to God Kakashi, you're going to pass out and get yourself hurt one day if you don't get some sleep!"

"I can look after myself" Kakashi reminded.

I shook my head. "Suuure you can."

Walking past him I threw myself on the bed, making sure to leave enough room for Kakashi.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to bed." I buried my face into my pillow and drifted off contentedly.

* * *

**xD They had the same conversation twice...hah -.-;**

**The latest chapter of Naruto kinda made me a little depressed. I wore black to school the next day. Hehe....**

**Well, I'm off to go find foodz for myself! Hurrah! Upstairs!**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	31. On The List

**Kyeh-kyeh-kyeh. Downing a can of pepsi in like ten minutes seems to make me feel rather loopy. Although I figure that's normal-ish. Heh-heh..yeah...**

* * *

When Wednesday rolled around, I was pretty much the only one who was actually excited for the scary movies at the theater. I rushed through the gardening, all whilst making teasing comments to Sasuke. The movie marathon started at five p.m and was playing movies like "One Missed Called", and "The Reaping". Both of which sounded quite creepy.

As we approached the theater that evening, I was starting to question why I was excited. I was normally terrified during horror movies. And I didn't really want to hold Kakashi's hand again.

"Exactly how long is this?" Kakashi queried as we stood in line for our tickets.

"Around eight hours" Sakura replied, absently scanning the theater.

"So it's way past Naruto's bed-time" Kakashi commented lightly.

I held back a chuckle. Ah, making fun of Naruto. Great bonding time.

"Hey!" Naruto whined.

"You're right" I agreed with a nod, "The last thing we need is a cranky Naruto."

"Mhm." Kakashi nodded while stroking his chin.

The line slowly progressed forward, and people milled about the ticket box without any similar purpose.

"Nggghhh…soo..bored!" I complained loudly.

Kakashi shook his head, pulled his wallet out of his pocket, and handed it to me. "You're in charge of snacks."

As Kakashi said this, my gaze wandered throughout the theater and rested on a yellow crane machine.

Sighing exasperatedly, Kakashi added: "Or crane machines."

I squealed with glee, then stopped suddenly. I didn't want to spend all of Kakashi's money on food and crane machine attempts. So, I opened it up, grabbed a few bills, then handed it back to him.

Ignoring the confused gaze from Kakashi, I rushed towards the snack bar.

I was quick to order a large popcorn and a slurpie (For me), then the kids combo caught my eye.

"I'd like three kid combos, please" I said, smiling warmly at the employee.

"You look to young to be a mother" He commented, eyeing my figure slowly before stopping at my chest.

I twitched. Perverted little bastard.

"I'm babysitting" I lied. Although it wasn't exactly a lie sometimes.

Strangely enough, he accepted this without wondering why a twenty-year-old would be babysitting instead of a normal line of work.

Nonetheless, after cramming the change into my pockets I gathered the snacks up into my arms and walked back towards Team 7, who were still in line. It was tedious work trying not to spill anything and stressed me out slightly. Especially because people were constantly walking in front of me, mid-stride.

My nostrils flared in frustration. It seemed like everyone was determined to keep in stuck in one place. Damn crowds. Apparently everyone was going to see a movie tonight.

Eventually, when I did reach Sasuke, I handed the three teens the popcorn, drinks and kids combo. Naruto eyed the combo's curiously. I waved and jogged off towards the crane machines, fingering the coins in my pocket. Yay, crane machines.

Ten minutes so later my feelings about it changed. By that point it was just irksome, addictive, piece of mechanical shit. I swear the thing was rigged! I was too into another round of the game; I was aiming for the sickeningly fluffy and adorable pink teddy bear, to notice someone walking up behind me.

"Shit" I cursed, missing the bear by an inch. With a rather feral growl in annoyance, I shoved another quarter into the machine and tensed my muscles, fully ready to break the machine if I had too.

Then I felt two arms slink over shoulders and rest on top of my hands, and a chest press against my back.

"Geez, calm down, we don't a broken crane machine" Kakashi commented teasingly.

I flushed. What the hell was he doing? Better yet, why was I still letting him stand behind me?

I clenched my teeth. Apparently I lacked the willpower. Stupid me.

The stupid crane machine beeped, drawing my attention away from Kakashi. Crap, the game had started.

I went back to aiming for the bear that had cost me quite a few dollars. That bear was going to burn on a spit if I won it, I decided. Although that kind of defeated the point of even winning it, but it would make me feel better.

Suddenly, I realized Kakashi's hands were leading mine over the bear slowly.

Blushing I allowed him do so.

"Akiko, push the button" Kakashi commanded.

As I pressed the little red button marked 'Lower Crane', I realized that Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were watching this unfold intently.

Kakashi pulled away, and for a moment I felt…sad. Then I mentally slapped myself. No sappy-love-struck-teenager-ness. I wouldn't allow.

I gently guided the crane to the little plastic box and dropped it in. The bear fell in with a satisfying thud.

I retrieved the bear, smiled broadly as I turned it around in my hands slowly, then promptly began choking it.

"DIE YOU GODDAMN FURRY SON-OF-A-BITCH!" I shouted.

Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stared at me, wide-eyed. They all looked quite shocked.

By the looks of things they hadn't expected me to strangle the furry monstrosity.

I continued the throttle the bear as violently as I could for a few minutes.

"Akiko, as much as I'm terrified of your wrath, the movie is starting" Kakashi interrupted.

My hands fell to the side, the bear's neck still grasped tightly in one hand. "Really?" I tilted my head to the side for a moment, "LET'S GO!"

Getting into the theater was another tedious process, for there was a line-up that moved slowly.

I needn't go into any more detail about the waiting in line, because nothing happened. Lines are never fun, unless you're Christmas shopping, in which case it's just plain risky.

We ended up sitting in the one of the front rows, the ones were it actually hurt to look at the screen. Kakashi sat to my left, Naruto to my right. Sasuke, apparently, wanted to sit as far away from me as possible. The pink bear sat in my lap. I could always strangle it if I got scared. Better than Kakashi's hand I supposed.

As the theater darkened and the first move began to roll, I felt a warm hand slip on top of my own and gently squeeze it. I blushed. Stupid Kakashi.

"That bear cost me, not you, so if you break it, you owe me" Kakashi warned softly.

So I was left either cutting of Kakashi's circulation in his hand, or owing him. It was obvious I was going with the first option here.

I shifted into a more comfortable position, hoping to slip my hand out of Kakashi's grasp. When that failed I sighed in resignation and decided to just put up with five hours of this. Besides, I didn't really mind.

xXx

Out of the three movies played, there was only one that didn't scare me. The Host. I don't think it was supposed to be amusing, but I was laughing my ass off twenty-percent of it. I received a few angered glares for that.

"Ah, that was great" I sighed, walking next to Kakashi on the sidewalk. The pink bear was being held to my chest with my right arm, while my left hung near my pouch filled with kunai. Just in case.

"Coming from the person who nearly cut of circulation in my hand quite a few times" Kakashi shot back, rubbing his hand to make his point.

"You guys were holding hands?" Sakura inquired a twinkle in her eye. I didn't like that twinkle. She, along with Naruto and Sasuke were walking directly ahead of us.

"Obviously," Sasuke shrugged and eyed Sakura sternly, like a teacher trying to explain a concept to her, "Akiko's clearly in love-"

My eyes widened in realization at what Sasuke was about to say, so I raised my foot up and drove it sharply into the back of his knee.

He grunted in pain before wheeling on me. "What the hell was that for?"

I glowered at him in response. Then it seemed to click inside his head, "Fine then."

With a flick of his hair that would make the bitchiest high school girl jealous, he turned away and continued walking ahead of us.

I bit my lip, realizing Kakashi was now looking at me funny.

"Akiko's clearly in love with who, or what?" Kakashi asked, finishing Sasuke's question.

My mind raced. I needed a decent excuse. And fast.

I chuckled lamely.

So much for that.

"He's just…being a douche!" I proclaimed weakly.

"Uh-huh" Kakashi sounded doubtful, but took this excuse anyway.

Thankfully, Kakashi didn't make another comment.

Scanning the area carefully I realized that there were a great number of guys, resembling the ones I had seen earlier this week, eyeing me like I was a piece of candy. As before, it was unnerving. Besides, this ones looked much more badass.

"Kakashi" I whined quietly.

"Hm?"

"Everyone's staring" I complained, my tone going up a notch. Cringing I realized I sounded like a seven year old girl.

Kakashi cast a sideways glance at me. "Hm, pretty orange-haired girl walking alone at night, I can't imagine why…"

I frowned. I wasn't alone. Although, I realized, the distances between Kakashi and I were fairly large and it did kind of look like we just happened to be walking the same way.

I sighed. "They all look like they wanna rape me or something creepy like that" I grumbled.

I stared at the ground. If I couldn't see them, maybe they couldn't see me. Hopefully they couldn't see me.

I blinked in surprise as I felt an arm slink around me. "Kakashi!" I squirmed in protest. The heat rose to my face. Although, a small part of my mind noted how closely I was pressed against him, and how naturally I seemed to fit there.

"Now how do they look?" Kakashi questioned. I skimmed the crowd.

"They look like they want to kill you" I observed.

I felt Kakashi's shoulder rise in a shrug. "Can't be helped."

I bit my lip awkwardly.

"Besides," Kakashi added, "They're obviously just jealous I'm the one taking the pretty girl home with me."

I felt like slamming my head against the wall. If embarrassment could kill.

Much to my chagrin Kakashi refused to remove his arm the rest of the walk home, even after the streets had become rather barren.

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura beat us back to Gaara's house.

So, when I walked into the living room and found it empty save for a cordless phone lying on the coffee table, it wasn't exactly surprising when the phone rang with Sasuke's phone number in the I.D spot.

"Hello?" I answered, knowing fully well it probably wasn't proper conduct for answering at another's house.

"Have you checked the children?" A voice asked in a rather cheesy attempt at sounding throaty.

I grinned, and Kakashi threw me a curious look.

"I killed the children, bitch!" I snapped.

Kakashi continued to stare as I paused momentarily. Then the line went dead.

"Who'd you kill?" Kakashi queried, "Or do I not want to know?."

I decided to be mysterious. I was already sounding crazy enough as it was.

"I would tell you" I sighed dramatically, "But then you'd be on that list too."

* * *

**..I would've had a better ending if the complusion to play Harvest Moon was haunting my every move at this moment in time.....seriously.**

**I feel seriously sorry for that poor bear..although I would've done the exact same thing..except I would've broken it. -.-;.**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	32. HideAndSeek

**Hyuu. Miracle I managed this really. I just read what is known as The Worst Fanfiction Ever. It was like...mental tortue. I shan't reveal it's actauly name unless someone asks. Because, really, after reading it, I just couldn't bring myself to do anything. One of my friends cried because it was so bad. O_O;**

* * *

"I love you!"

Sasuke looked up idly from the stove. "Why is that?"

I bounced up and down in my chair. "You're making pancakes! For us!"

Sasuke shook his head, and I frowned, confused.

"No" Sasuke stated monotonously, "We are eating pancakes, _you_ are eating the bowl of cereal you just poured for yourself.

My frown deepened. No fair. Heaving a sigh, I hung my head and dunked the spoon into the bowl.

At a certain point during my breakfast, Sasuke sauntered off to go find everyone else.

I continued to take small spoonfuls of the cereal, staring at the pancakes like a wolf would a piece of fresh meat. It just looked so yummy. Besides, I thought glancing down, Captain Crunch makes me sick.

I was still staring forlornly at the pancakes when I heard a chair being pulled back. Glancing up, I realized with a start it was the boy from my closet.

The hell?

He stared at me blankly, hazel eyes revealing absolutely nothing.

I quirked an eyebrow inquisitively. He mirrored the motion.

I was tempted to wave and make faces like people seem to do when testing if their reflections are real or not. Then I stopped myself. I didn't need to be frightening small children.

"I see dead people" He stated, like it was something I should know.

Caught off guard, I blinked. "Good…for…you..?" I replied questioningly. How was I supposed to know what to say? For God's sake, I was just told by a little boy that he sees dead people.

On another note: Who the hell was the kid?

"Er, who are you?" I asked, still a little uncomfortable.

"Yuki" The boy deadpanned, "Alice's little brother."

My mouth slowly formed an 'O' shape. This was Alice's little brother she had told me about? The one who she let play around the house?

I suppose that made sense. But all the same; dead people?!

He was, quite obviously, the kid on the playground the mother's wouldn't let their kids play with. I wasn't sure I'd play with him, and I was a good ten years older.

Mustering up my composer, I decided to introduce myself. "I'm Akiko!"

Yuki nodded simply.

I twiddled my thumbs. Can you say 'awkward'?

Through the silence I could hear footsteps just outside the doorway. Getting closer, and closer, until Kakashi stuck his head through the doorway.

"My my, and who do we have here?" He inquired cheerily, pulling another chair out and straddling it.

"Yuki, Alice's little brother" I offered.

Kakashi nodded slightly and raised an eyebrow at me, perhaps asking for further explanation.

Instead, I said this:

"He sees dead people." The tone I used was completely patronizing, like I didn't believe him. A part of me didn't, but not many kids could lie with such a straight face.

"Hm, really now?" It was obvious Kakashi was feigning belief, whether for my sake, or the kids', I didn't know.

Yuki nodded. "I do, is this a problem." His tone was devoid of any emotion.

"What's a problem?" Sakura asked, walking in, followed by Sasuke and Naruto.

Kakashi tilted his head to face his team, "Ah, nothing much, just the fact that this kid beats Sasuke in the emotionless category."

Sasuke glowered, Naruto and I laughed.

"Congrat's kid" Naruto applauded, patting Yuki's head affectionately. Yuki scowled, obviously uncomfortable.

Then Naruto frowned. "Who is he?" He asked in a loud whisper towards me.

"Yuki" I replied, in a normal tone.

"He sees dead people" Kakashi added, all seriousness.

"WOAH!" Naruto exclaimed, "REALLY?!"

"That's awesome?" Sakura guessed.

Sasuke interrupted the amazement by dropping the plate of pancakes into the middle of the table.

I started to make a grab for one. My hand was smacked sharply.

"Ouch" I complained, rubbing my now sore hand.

"Finish your cereal" Sasuke commanded sternly.

I glanced down at it. The little cereal bits were slowly sinking into the milk.

"But it's soggy" I complained.

Sasuke just glowered at me.

I sighed, grimacing through another spoonful. God, stupid soggy cereal.

Slowly I began to realize Sakura was chatting amiably with Yuki. The more accurate description was that Sakura was talking and Yuki was nodding or shaking his head in response.

At least she was trying to make the boy feel like he wasn't being shunned (Apparently no one believed his claim of seeing the dead). In fact, she even went so far as to suggest a game of hide-and-seek.

"Seriously?" I blinked, amazed. I didn't think people still played hide-and-go-seek. I hadn't played, or seen anyone playing, that game since I was twelve.

"Sure" Kakashi shrugged lazily, "It'll be a good training exercise too."

"Oh yes" I agreed sarcastically, "Test your ninja skill against this little boy" I waved my about in the air for a moment, emphasizing my point (Or making me look like a fool).

Kakashi eyed me sternly, "Yes."

I bit my lip awkwardly. Well then, by the looks of things, it was a game of hide-and-seek.

"I'm in" Naruto chimed in eagerly.

"Kids games" Sasuke scoffed.

"Too bad" I warned, "Because since most of us are playing. So. Are. You" I pronounced each word strongly, ensuring he got the point.

"No, I'm, not" Sasuke retorted.

I frowned sourly. He was sassing me.

"Let Sasuke be a party-pooper, we have a game to play" Kakashi decided.

"Already??" I whined. God forbid I had to move.

Kakashi nodded firmly, a no arguments aura floating about.

"Fine" I sighed reluctantly. Then, I smiled brightly. "Naruto's it!"

At those words, everyone jumped up and ran, including Sasuke, leaving Naruto looking dazed and confused.

Shortly after though, I could hear his angered screaming echoing down the hallways.

I shook my head. Now, to find a place to hid.

Xxx

Three hours later, the game was still going strong, but Yuki was proving to be the best at hiding. Kakashi had managed to slip in a few words about practicing focusing their charka, so we had resorted to standing on ceilings. I was probably the easiest to find while I was hiding on the roof, for I was humming the Spider-Man tune the whole time. It was hard not too.

However, no matter how hard we tried to hide, Yuki was always the last to be found. It was a mystery as too why, for he was finding the simplest spots to be found.

That was the genius of it, I decided, after minutes of mulling over how he was so sneaky.

That damn kid was a freakin' hide and seek wizard. Thankfully, I wasn't 'it', and thus didn't have to find him. However, I was in need of a hiding spot.

"Twenty-four…..twenty-three…..twenty-two…."

And I didn't have much time.

I burst into a run, sprinting down the hallway, hoping, at least, to find a small crevice in the wall to jam myself into.

"Eleven….Ten….nine…eight."

Well..shit. I was basically out of time already, and I stood out in the empty hallway.

To my left, a closet door opened a crack. I paused to stare at it in confusion. I couldn't see anyone…..

A hand reached out and clutched my forearm. What the hell!?

Before I could make any noise of protest, I was pulled into the closet and pressed against someone's warm chest. I heard the door close slowly and I was enveloped in darkness. What the fucking hell was going on??

"Shh" A voice soothed before I struggle.

I knew that voice all too well. Kakashi.

"What the hell are you doing!" I demanded, managing to pull away enough in the cramped space to peer into the blackness where I assumed Kakahi's head was.

I felt a slender finger press up against my lips.

"Shh..Naruto'll hear you" Kakashi whispered.

Yeup, Naruto was it again. He really sucked at hide-and-go-seek.

"He'll find us anyway!" I protested, "This is one of the worst hiding spots!"

"He's not going to look here" Kakashi assured me.

"And why not?" I snapped. Sure, Naruto was an idiot. But I didn't think he was that stupid.

"If you don't stop talking I'm going to have to find another way to shut you up" Kakashi grumbled threateningly.

"I can take you" I said coolly, assuming he meant a fight.

Kakashi snorted slightly. "As if."

"I CAN…" I began but was but was cut off abruptly as I felt lips press against mine.

It seemed like the dark, small closet was spinning. I was having a hard enough time thinking straight, as so many thoughts were going through my head at once. All the thinking was giving me a headache. Kakashi pulled away slowly, as if waiting for me to do or say something.

And for once, I was speechless. I heard footsteps run by, full speed just outside the door. They faded into the distance slowly.

"It worked" Kakashi chuckled under his breath.

"T-that…never happened!" The heat rushed to my face as I regained my ability to speak.

"Sure it didn't" Kakashi agreed, in a rather patronizing tone.

I scowled, shifting around so my back was facing him. It had little effect in the dark closet.

I didn't like standing still for so long, I realized with a frown. My legs were starting to cramp up.

"This is going to look so awkward when Naruto finds us" I whispered crankily.

Kakashi chuckled, "If Naruto finds us."

I tilted my head up, even though I couldn't see him. "'If'?" I queried

I heard Kakashi inhale, as if preparing for a long speech.

"Naruto is expecting the both of us, as trained ninja's, to be hiding in some near impossible spot, because of this he won't be expecting us to hide somewhere as simple as a closet" Kakashi explained.

That actually made a lot of sense. "So there's a lesson in this" I clarified.

"Yes, there is indeed."

"Does this mean we'll be stuck in here a while" I complained. I didn't want to be stuck in a closet with Kakashi. Bad things could happen.

"Probably" Kakashi informed me.

I moaned. Great, just great.

So, twenty minutes later, I was still standing in the closet. I shifted my weight slowly. I wanted to sit down. Or, in the least, lean against something.

Tentatively, I eased myself back, so I was leaning against Kakashi's chest. That felt slightly better.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked.

I blushed. Damn, I forgot that he was human for a moment there.

"My legs hurt from standing, so I'd figured you'd be a good wall to lean against" I explained, as if calling someone a wall was nice.

"That's what I'm here for" Kakashi muttered sarcastically.

I smiled. "Clearly. You do make a lovely wall though" I pointed out teasingly.

"The other jounin's will have a laugh when they hear of this" Kakashi mused, more to himself.

I frowned. No comeback? That was no fun."Which part are they going to laugh about?" I asked, "Hiding in a closet, or being treated like a wall by a girl."

"Both" Kakashi answered. There was a short pause before he added: "Of course, when they find out I was hiding in a closet with such an attractive young lady they'll just be jealous."

I blushed yet again. I was getting used to the feeling, and it was pissing me off.. I elbowed Kakashi in the ribs sharply.

"Stop hitting on me!" I whined.

Kakashi chuckled deeply. "Did you have to elbow me so hard?"

"Yes."

"That wasn't very nice."

We continued our light banter for a while, and I was so into I failed to notice Naruto's voice coming from outside.

The doorknob turned and I finally fell silent. Within an outside I found bright light shining in through a crack in the door.

"MY EYES!" I snapped, closing my eyes shut tightly. Must block out the light.

"FOUND YOU!" Naruto exclaimed. "Both?!" He shouted, after a moment's pause. He sounded perplexed, and disturbed.

As I cracked open an eyelid, I found myself face to face with a stunned Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

Everything was quiet.

"I told you this'd be awkward" I grumbled.

* * *

**Alrighty then. I have a lame-ass joke from a Laffy Taffy wrapper.**

**"A man walked into a bar. What did he say?"**

**...............**

**"Ouch."**

**See, lame-ass.**

**I'm off to fetch some juice!**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	33. Alice's Request

**Hullo dearies~ I'm still alive, or so I think xD.**

* * *

"You're going to pay for this you son of a bitch" I grumbled sleepily as Kakashi attempted to shove me into the bathroom.

"Come on, hurry up and shower, maybe some cold water will wake you up" Kakashi clapped his hands briskly, and I narrowed my eyes.

Why the hell was he being so loud? It was six in the god-damn morning. Better yet, why did he wake me up at six in the god-damn morning?

"Kakashi" I growled, turning to face him. "What the hell's going on?"

"We're leaving today, so we had to get up bright and early" Kakashi explained rationally.

I grunted irritably, glaring all the while.

"Yeesh, I get it!" Kakashi threw his hands up in self-defense, "You're not a morning person!"

I narrowed my eyes even further. No I was not. Slowly I closed the bathroom door. Sleep still clouded my vision, and I had to stumble about the bathroom with my arms outstretched for a few moments until I found the shower.

I stood in the shower for a few moments, my brow creased. I was forgetting something. Glancing downward slowly, my clothes caught my attention. I couldn't shower with my clothes on. Well, I could, but that'd be wet and uncomfortable.

Stifling a yawn, I swayed back and forth slowly. Damn, I was tired. Hell, the bathroom floor was starting to look comfortable.

I dazedly removed my clothing, tossing it absently onto the floor that looked oh so comfortable.

Unfortunately, a lukewarm shower didn't help to change my drowsy state. I continued to amble about, my vision a sleep-filled haze.

"Are you feeling alright?" Sakura asked me over breakfast.

I managed a groan and slammed my head on the table. Sakura, like the other two adolescents on the team, had been granted the gift of waking up at seven. Lucky bastards.

"Sensei?" Sakrua sounded worried.

"Ignore her, she's just being an idiot" Sasuke commanded sternly.

"Nyeh…I'm not" I mumbled, waving my hand in a lazy attempt to swat Sasuke from across the table.

"Ah, Akiko here is just tired!" Kakashi informed them loudly, patting my head.

I sat up, glaring at Kakashi. "You're damn fault for waking me up so early"

Kakashi just shook his head.

I sighed, resting my head back on the table. I wearily closed my eyes. Maybe I could catch some sleep before we left. Slowly, the chatting sounds in the room faded into nothing……

"Akiko…." A voice sang.

I squeezed by eyelids shut tighter. Go away voice….

"Sensei, wake up" Another voice prompted, seemingly from farther away.

Why couldn't the voices just leave me alone…..

"Maybe a kiss from the prince would wake her up?" Another, more feminine voice suggested.

What 'prince'? The hell…..?

I heard murmurs of agreement throughout the room. Even that didn't prompt me to open my eyes.

"Kakashi-sensei, would you do the honors?"

Kakashi?

And slowly, things were starting to make sense.

Oh, they wouldn't stoop that low.

Would they?

"Oh, I'd be delighted" This time, I recognized Kakashi's voice.

My eyelids fluttered open quickly.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" I sputtered, leaping up so quickly I knocked my chair over.

I glowered as I hit the ground. They were laughing. Loudly.

I stood up slowly, my hand placed on my back, which was aching terribly after my nap on the table. I had a feeling I looked like an elderly man with back problems.

"Bad dream, Akiko?" Kakashi asked airily.

I glared at him, straightening to full height.

I opened my mouth, preparing for a snappy comeback, when someone caught my eye.

"Hey Alice" I commented with a nod, turning towards her.

She stood in the doorway, hands clasped behind her back, and a nervous expression on her face. Yuki was peering out from behind her, looking like a small, innocent child, instead of the mildly unnerving kid he really was.

"I have something to ask of you" She began softly.

Kakashi leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table, intertwining his fingers, and resting his chin upon them. "Go on."

I frowned thoughtfully.

"Well, it's just, last night, I received news that our father had passed away…"

I raised an eyebrow quizzically. Why was her expression so impassive? She wasn't showing a single glimmer of emotion in her eyes. Weird.

"Oh!" Sakura gasped, "I'm so sorry!"

Alice shook her head slowly. "No, it's fine, thank you."

I sidled a little closer to Kakashi and sat down in the nearest chair.

"Isn't she a little…expressionless for a girl who just lost her parent?" I whispered to Kakashi.

Kakashi shrugged amiably, "Maybe she has a reason."

I pursed my lips. Like what?

"You see" Alice started

Looks like I was getting my explanation.

"When Yuki and I were younger, our mother passed away and our father had to leave us with our aunt so he could go make money. Our aunt wasn't" Alice paused, "the nicest person in the world….so, I got a job here." Alice finished with a simple shrug.

"That's a good reason" I murmured to one in particular.

"If you don't mind me asking, how exactly did your father die?" Sakura asked politely.

"It was some kind of accident involving a horse" She explained calmly.

I felt a strange twisting in my gut.

I could almost hear the other's cringing

Slowly, dismissing the pang in my gut, I realized how silent the room was.

Where was Naruto? Was he even in the room?

I had my doubts, for, if Naruto were actually in the room, he would've made some stupid comment.

"Where's Naru.." I trailed as I scanned the room, my gaze settling on the blond ninja in the corner. He was lying on his stomach, hands bound behind his back, and gag stuffed in mouth.

Realizing I was looking at him, Naruto flailed about like a fish out of water, a muffled, slightly panicked wail coming from his general direction.

Jaw dropped, I turned to face Kakashi. "Eh?" I managed, pointing towards Naruto.

Kakashi and Sasuke shrugged in unison.

"He was being an ass" Sasuke explained nonchalantly.

"And I had no complaints with his method of solving it" Kakashi added.

What a great teaching method.

I chanced another glance at Naruto. Naruto's blue eye's were wide and pleading. Ah, the puppy dog eyes. Classic.

I turned away from Naruto and faced Alice. I preferred Naruto tied up and gagged, as odd as that sounded, for he was much quieter. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Naruto's foot miss a stray Tupperware box by inches.

Well, he was quiet until he started kicking things.

"So, erm" Kakashi cleared his throat, putting everyone back on track, "Alice, I don't believe you've quite yet made your request."  
Alice's eyes widened in surprise momentarily, before she recovered her stony composure. "Ah, yes, well, I was wondering if we could accompany you back to Konoha."

"Hmmm…" Kakashi leaned back in his chair, thinking.

I eased myself off the chair and sauntered over towards the siblings.

I crouched down to Yuki's eye level, patting his head before turning to Kakashi. "What'd you say? Can we keep 'em?"

Shrugging amiably, Kakashi nodded. "Sure, so long as they're potty trained."

Alice offered a smile, "Thank you. Excuse us, it'll only take a moment to pack." With a curt nod, Alice gently led Yuki out of the room.

"Wait…where will they be sleeping?" Sakura asked slowly.

I frowned, noting her rather excellent point. "This is indeed a rather excellent question."

"We could always" I began, but slowly my head drooped, "No, that wouldn't work."

"Why not, what's your idea?" Kakashi inquired.

"Well, for one, it would involve another tent which we do not have, and another dead raven."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow curiously. "Dead raven?"

"_Another_ dead raven?" Sakura muttered. Suddenly, her eyes widened, "It was you that put the dead raven on Sasuke's pillow!"

I smiled devilishly. "It may have, perchance, been me" I almost admitted.

Although, now it was quite clear it was I who had left the dead bird lying about.

"I had a feeling it was you who did that…." Sasuke muttered dryly.

"This isn't solving the sleeping arrangement problem" Kakashi reminded, steering us back on track.

"I have a solution" Sasuke announced.

"Let's here it, emo boy" I teased, folding my arms over my chest as I turned to fully face him.

Sasuke glared at me momentarily before explaining. "Why doesn't Akiko-sensei just stay with Kakashi-sensei? Alice and Yuki could fit in the same tent as everyone else."

"Oh come on!" I protested, "Why is it I'm always sleeping with Kakashi these days!"

Naruto, who had been wailing rather loudly this whole time, silenced himself.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" I stammered, "It's just…!" I trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Sasuke had a smirk on his lips as he opened his mouth to taunt me. "Just what?" He asked.

It wasn't the worst he could've said, but I still had no response.

My lips moved soundlessly as I tried to draw up a decent excuse. "I…er..uh…uhm..hehe…errr…"

It was then, just as my face as started to turn slightly red, Kakashi stepped in.

"Sasuke, leave Akiko alone" Kakashi commanded sternly.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Spared from making an idiot of myself…

"I'm sure she'll do something stupider to make fun of later" He added.

"Thanks" I rolled my eyes. What was a nice gesture was now just more harassing. "You guys are just so nice."

"Oh, I try, I try!" Kakashi said lightly, a merry twinkle in his eye.

I scowled. "I bet you do."

"Anyway!" Kakashi began, standing up, "Let's untie Naruto and make sure everyone's ready to leave. I'm sure Akiko's just itching to get back and see how her uncle's fairing."

I felt my stomach drop. My uncle. I-I had…I had completely forgot..

I felt terrible. Probably because I was terrible….

The guilt made me feel as if I'd been stabbed in the gut.

"Hey" Kakashi's voice snapped me out of my guilt-ridden reverie.

I blinked, wondering how long I had been standing there. It took me mere seconds after to realize that Kakashi was peering down frighteningly close to my face. I looked down at my shoulder, "I'm fine."

Kakashi gripped my chin with his thumb and forefinger, lifting up head up to face him. "Are you sure you're alright?"

It was a lot harder to lie about feeling fine when I was looking him in the eyes. "Y-yeah, I'm fine" I managed.

Kakashi released my chin, and eyed me disbelievingly.

Taking a deep breath, I resisted the urge to go find a corner to brood and be worried in. I was not going to be a child about this. Besides, if I was going to brood, I could brood and walk.

"I get it; you're worried about you're uncle. It's fine." Kakashi said, as if just realizing the reason I was suddenly so down in the dumps. He swooped forward, pressing his masked lips against my forehead.

I felt my face heat up.

"I'll make sure Sasuke and Naruto leave you alone, alright?" Kakashi informed me gently as he pulled away.

I nodded slightly, "Yeah, thanks." It was reassuring to know Kakashi didn't make fun of people when they were feeling down.

"And, if you need someone to talk to, I'll listen" Kakashi added softly.

"You're being awfully nice" I observed, trying to lighten the mood.

"And I'm not allowed too?"

"It's weird…" I scrunched up my nose. After a moment of silence I decided to add, rather hurriedly, "But it's nice too."

Kakashi shook his head and laughed softly, "C'mon, let's go before Naruto starts to whine."

I nodded quickly. "Yeah, the last thing we need is a whiny Naruto because then Sasuke would be cranky, and a whole lot of bad things could come from that."

Kakashi nodded in agreement, before linking arms with me. "Shall we?"

I nodded slowly, my attention torn between being worried and bantering with Kakashi.

"We shall."

* * *

**I doubt the quality of this chapter, but oh well! **

**And I'm super sorry about not updating, I ran into a rather nasty case of writers block. **

**.......I smelll doritos.....fooooddd......**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	34. Hellphone

**Honest to God, Manitoba continues to deny global warming. There's snow. FRIGGEN SNOW IN APRIL!**

**On another note, I don't intend to drop this fic at any time soon, I just procrastinate a lot.**

* * *

Kakashi was true to his word, and Naruto and Sasuke barely interacted with me at all. However, this also meant that they had to argue with each other, much to everyone else's irritation.

"Oh, Jesus Christ, can't they just be quiet for ten minutes" was a phrase I heard quite frequently as we strolled along.

It was fairly obvious then, that by the time we had set up camp for the night, that most of us had nasty headaches.

I chose a rather secluded looking area to sit, close enough to the campfire to keep warm, but far enough away to avoid unnecessary conversations. I was still pretty pissed at myself for forgetting to worry about my uncle. Kakashi had that effect on me, I realized sourly.

I pulled my knees into my chest, wondering if I should go join the chatting group around the fire. Brooding, as much as it sounded, seemed very depressing. And, as much as I wanted to brood, I didn't really want to be depressed. Being depressed was like being the brown potato chip no one wants to eat. No one was going to want to talk to you.

I lost all my doubts about joining the group the moment I saw Sasuke's cell phone sticking out of his back pocket. Oh, what wonders of fun could be had if I could get a hold of that.

Of course, subtlety wasn't going to be necessary. I stood up, sauntering towards the group. When I got close enough, I slapped Sasuke's back, like any man-buddie would, and sat down next to him. "Hey buddy!" I chirped, letting my hand slowly fall from behind his back, and, as I was about to pull my arm into my side, I quickly snatched the phone from his pocket. It looked to be a natural motion, but I had feeling Yuki and Sakura had seen what I had just done. I winked at them, hoping to convey the message.

Being as conspicuous as possible, I slipped the phone into my back pocket. Oh yes, this would be fun.

Everyone talked for some time, but after about an hour Kakashi forced everyone to go into their tents, leaving just him and I outside. Kakashi, seemingly unable to think of anything to say for once, prodded the fire with a stick, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

I pulled my knees into my chest, and didn't bother to hide the fact I was staring. "Hey Kakashi" I muttered softly, not fully sure what I wanted to say, or if I wanted to say it. I averted my eyes, staring at the fire. Maybe he hadn't heard that…..

"Hm?"

Damnit.

"Do you" I paused slightly, trying to think of what I was saying; "Do you think my uncle's going to be alright?" I sounded so pathetic and quiet. I was seriously worried.

"Akiko-" Kakashi began, but I interrupted rather harshly.

"I don't want any of that 'he's going to be fine' bullshit. I want your actual opinion" I snapped. If he wasn't going to make it, I didn't want to be told he was going to be fine. Hell, even I knew the outlook; I just needed someone else's opinion on it.

"He did get hit by a horse, he's lucky he survived just that" Kakashi stated, his tone gentle.

For a moment, I couldn't breath. I rested my forehead against my knees, trying to calm my shaking shoulders. That hurt more than I thought it would. It was what I expected to hear, and yet, I couldn't stop shaking.

"Shit" I heard Kakashi curse softly. I didn't look up, but I could hear Kakashi shifting closer to me. I felt Kakashi's gloved hand wrap around mine, his thumb absently stroking my knuckles. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…" And again, I cut Kakashi off, except, this time my tone wasn't as sharp.

I shook my head against my knees, "No. Don't apologize." I lifted my head, forcing a weak smile at him. "I asked for the truth, you told me. Thank you." And I was grateful, hearing the truth from someone else hurt, but false hope would make the truth hurt more.

Kakashi and I sat in silence for a while, my hand in his. I shifted slightly, trying to make myself more comfortable against the damp ground, when I realized that I still had Sasuke's cell in my back pocket. Pulling my hand away from Kakashi's, I reached back and pulled it out.

"Isn't that…" Kakashi trailed off, shaking his head, "No, never mind, I don't want to know."

It was a mystery how there was even service in the middle of nowhere, but there was. With a smirk, I managed to connect it to the internet. I'd give him the money for going on the internet; that was generally expensive. It wouldn't matter, because, my plan, if it worked, would be priceless.

Moments later, my plan was complete, and my only task left was to get the phone back to Sasuke without him noticing. Ignoring Kakashi's confused stares, I stood up, brushed the dirt off my legs, and walked purposefully towards the tent Sasuke was in. With the utmost stealth, I began to lower the zipper from the top flap of the tent, and bring it down an inch or two. Just enough room to throw the phone in. Which is exactly what I did. Of course, I aimed it directly towards Sasuke's head. I missed. But I was pretty damn close.

"Do I even want to know?" Kakashi inquired, as I walked back with a proud grin on my face.

"You'll find out in a few minutes." With that I sat down next to him. "Kakashi, can I borrow your cell phone?"

Kakashi's eye widened momentarily, probably out of surprise that I even assumed he had a cell phone. It was probably supposed to be a secret cell phone. He recovered his composure with a quick "I don't own a cell phone."

"Cut the crap, I know you do" I smiled my most brilliant smile.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "No, no you don't."

"Oh, yes, yes I do."

Kakashi glared at him. I returned the glare evenly.

"You're crazy, you just thought you saw a cell-phone that may or may not belong to me."

With a smile, I recited the number, area code and all.

The surprised look on his face was priceless. "How the hell did you get my cell-phone number?"

"Remember the day you went out drinking?"

"Not really."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I do. Anyway, you left your cell-phone lying about, and I found it."

"You were snooping through my room?" Kakashi asked, eyeing my suspiciously. He didn't seem pleased by that concept.

"Ah, don't worry, I didn't read any of your porn novels" I teased.

"They're not porn!" Kakashi protested.

Sure they're not. You just keep telling yourself that.

We were getting off-topic, I realized. Oh, how devious. Drawing my away from the cell phone topic by changing to his porn novels. "Just hand over the phone" I demanded bluntly.

Kakashi heaved a sigh, rummaging through the numerous pockets in his vest before he produced a phone. "Fine. Here."

I grinned, snatching it from his hand before he could change his mind. I flipped and open and hurriedly punched in Sasuke's cell number. After a few moments I heard the distinctive ring tone from the tent. It only took a second before a girly scream pierced the night air, along with a long stream of curses. The scream sounded too manly to belong to Sakura or Alice, or Yuki. Which meant it was either Naruto or Sasuke. Ahhhh, priceless indeed.

"You pick it up" That was Naruto's voice, "I'm not answering that hell phone."

"I'm not picking it up" Sasuke protested, "Naruto's the dumbest, he should answer it."

"I AM NOT THE DUMBEST!" Naruto barked.

I laughed under my breath, waiting to leave my message. This was sheer brilliance in a can. If only that was sold in stores.

The fighting continued, accompanied by the slight undertone of Alice, Yuki, and Sakura voices conversing. Then the robotic female voice started talking. "The owner of this phone is currently away from this phone, or has turned it off. Please leave your message after the beep."

Beep.

My mind raced to think up something to say that I could bring up in conversation the next day. Something…anything….

"Don't be such a dumbass Sasuke" I scolded into the phone. I decided another voice would make it seem more authentic, so I thrust the phone into Kakashi's face. "Say something" I hissed.

"Look who's talking" Kakashi mock-retorted into the phone.

Cackling with glee I hit the red 'end' button. "That was great" I sighed happily.

"Sasuke's going to die" Naruto announced loudly from within the tent.

"Oh no! Sasuke, what are you doing to do?!" Sakura gushed.

Sasuke said nothing.

"Y'know, Naruto and Sakura will be paranoid all day thanks to you" Kakashi pointed out, trying to sound reprimanding, but I could hear the laughter in voice.

"Mhmmm….  
Kakashi stood up abruptly, "I guess you probably want to be alone, it's probably been a long day for you."

My cheery expression became somber immediately. Way to throw me back onto the depressed train. Kakashi had only taken a few steps when I replied with a "What makes you think I want to be alone."

"Hm?" Kakashi's steps paused and I continued.

"When my family died, I was basically alone. I had other family, but I wasn't close to them. I still remember how scary it was to feel that alone. Sure, I had, and still have, Naoki, but I don't like troubling her. She has business of her own." I pulled my knees into my chest, "Now my uncles the only real family I have left. And losing him is going to bring back that same alone feeling." I paused, tilting my head to look at Kakashi. "I guess what I'm trying to say is: I don't need to be alone, I just need to know someone's there."

Kakashi walked back towards me and sat down again. He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into his chest. "Fine, I'll stay." Kakashi conceded.

Breathing deeply, I smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem. And you do realize how lucky you are, they are people who would kill for this" Kakashi joked, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

I chuckled softly, "Oh yes, your vast fan base I'm assuming?"

"Who else?"

After a few minutes, my eyelids started to droop and I sagged against Kakashi.

"You are not falling asleep on me" Kakashi commanded, sounding irked.

I'd like to see him try and stop me, I thought wryly, nestling myself further into his chest.

"Oh, come on. Akiko! I'm not carrying you into the tent!" Kakashi continued.

"Shut up…." I murmured blearily. My eyes finally closed.

"No, I will not shut up; I don't want you sleeping on me!" Kakashi grumbled.

Within seconds, much to Kakashi immense displeasure, I was asleep.

xXx

"Who screamed last night?" I asked over breakfast. I wasn't just pretending curious, I really did want to know.

Sasuke stared at his toast, as if he was mentally avoiding the question.

Hmmm…..

Naruto bit his lip, like he was trying to hold something in.

"Because really, it sounded like a little girl" I continued.

Naruto could hold it no longer.

"It was Sasuke" Naruto blurted, pointing a finger at his raven-haired teammate.

"No it wasn't!" Sasuke protested, a little too quickly. He was lying.

I almost burst into a fit of hysterics. That was Sasuke screaming. Holy shit, he screamed like a girl. That was just too great.

Instead of laughing, however, I glared at Sasuke. "Don't be such a dumbass, Sasuke" I scolded, reciting word for word the message from last night.

Sasuke paled slightly, "What'd you just say?"

I ignored him, elbowing Kakashi, who was sitting next to me, instead.

Kakashi blinked, catching onto his cue. "Look who's talking" He managed quickly.

Sasuke blanched, Naruto choked on his toast, Alice and Yuki completely oblivious, and Sakura looked horrified.

After surveying everyone's faces a second time, the fit of hysterics I had been holding in, came out. I fell backwards, my toast spilling on the ground as I clutched my stomach. "Y-your f-f-faces" I managed through bouts of laughter.

Sasuke, seemingly catching on, immediately glowered a rather menacing glower.

"Akiko-sensei, you better sleep with one eye open."

* * *

**Here's the odd tidbit of information, on the kids choice awards the pussycat dolls were nominated. THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS! What the hell is wrong with kids today?? Or their parents? Why would you let your children listen to them!?**

**Today's society scares me.**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**


	35. Desire

**You should feel lucky. I chose updating over memorizing my drama script. You should feel very lucky indeed. XD;;**

* * *

The hospital.

God, just thinking about it made me nervous.

Kakashi and I had struck up a deal, he would take Team 7 down to the Hokage's office, and I would go to the hospital, then go drop off Alice and Yuki.

So I was leading the way through Konoha's familiar streets, buried too deep in thought to really notice any conversation floating around me. I kept up the naïve hope that my uncle would be alive, waiting. But, the more sane part of me was waging an epic battle against my remaining hope. It was currently unapparent who would emerge victorious. I seemed I wasn't going to give up that futile hope; I wasn't going to give up either. I was too afraid of being alone again. He had been my father figure, and I wasn't sure I could handle losing two fathers.

So riddled by my thoughts, I didn't happened to notice Alice gently poking my arm, eyes curious.

"Hm?" I managed, snapping out of my reverie.

"What's your uncles name?" Alice inquired.

I had to think for a moment. I never refered to him by his name, so it took some time for me to fully recall it. "Ren…." I murmured, "Ren…Kugimiya. His name is Ren Kugimiya."

Alice's sun-tanned face paled slightly, and she nudged Yuki with her elbow before bending to whisper something in his ear. I raised an eyebrow. What would've caused that reaction. I waited in puzzled silence as Alice conferred with her brother.

Alice turned to me. "That was our father's name."

"Oh." Then it clicked. Her dead father?

Wouldn't that mean-

Shit.

I felt the blood drain from my face as that last little bit of wilted. I broke out in a frantic run, denial kicking in as that delusional form of hope kicked in. The kind of hope where you find yourself believing the impossible, no matter how much it'll hurt when it comes crashing down.

The hospital was soon looming above me. It was strange that the building the offered the promise of safety to others, offered the inevitable promise of my worst fear to me.

I burst through the doors, not even pausing as the smell of medicine, bleach, and soap wafted around me. I sprinted towards the nurse's station; a round desk situated in the center of the waiting room. The nurse sitting there was a woman of the plump variety, scanning absently over a sheet of pristine paper, blatantly ignoring the coughing and wheezing of the sick patients waiting in chairs.

"Room number" I paused, to catch my breath, "Of Ren Kugimiya."

The nurse, startled by my appearance, had a rather flustered method of shuffling through the papers scattered about on the desk. Finally she seemed to find what she was searching for. Eyes slowly scanning over the paper, her lips twisted into a sympathetic frown. "Oh my. I'm terrible sorry but-"

The delusional wall of hope came crashing down, harsh as a tidal wave. I didn't give her a chance to finish as I took off, running back through the doors and straight past Alice and Yuki. I paid them no notice as I ran.

I sprinted without a destination, just wherever my legs would carry me. I ran faster, trying harder to run past everything, to just run away from reality. It worked for a time, and I barely noticed the hot tears sliding down my cheeks. Eventually, I slowed to a halt, stopping in a patch of trees just on the edge of Konoha. I felt drained and shaky. I placed a hand against the rough bark of a nearby tree in hopes of steadying myself.

"Akiko? What are you doing?"

I wiped away my tears hastily with my arm, not bothering to ask the question if Kakashi had followed me. I turned around slowly, flashing a feeble smile. "Looking for wild strawberries" I lied.

"They don't grow around here" Kakashi pointed out, walking towards me tentatively, like I was about to have a mental breakdown any second. A possibility not far from the truth.

"Oh, that explains a lot" I chuckled lamely. I wasn't in the mood for conversations or witty comebacks. I was, however, in the mood to just sit and bawl.

"Are you okay?"

Kakashi wasn't asking in regards to my current, puffy-eyed state, he was asking in regards to the fate of my uncle. It was a mystery how he knew, but I left it alone.

"Yeah" I lied again, but my voice cracked and I was soon in tears again. "I didn't get to say goodbye" I muttered softly. This fact, only occurring to me now, released such a wave of emotion that I took a few shaky steps towards Kakashi and drove my fist into his chest.

There was no force behind the blow, and my hand bounced off harmlessly. "It's all your damn fault" I snapped, tone accusing, "You…you talked me into going..and…and" I trailed off, repeatedly driving my fists haphazardly into Kakashi's chest. I continued to repeat the same sentence over and over, not able to continue past "It's all your fault". It felt good to push all my pent-up self-angered on someone. Really good. After repeating the same phrase over and over a couple more times I finally worked up the nerve to finish. "My uncle's dead, and I didn't get to say goodbye and it's all your damn fault!"

A violent sob racked my body, my shoulder's shuddering. Kakashi chose that moment to wrap his arms around me and pull me into his chest, pinning my arms in between our bodies.

"Shhh.." Kakashi soothed, smoothing my hair against my neck.

I sobbed and shuddered against him, feeling numb. I grasped Kakashi's vest, my fists clutching the fabric tightly like a lifeline. Kakashi continued to whisper unintelligible comfort into my ear.

"I'm sorry."

As Kakashi whispered this, I felt terribly terribly guilty. There was no basis behind my accusations and there he was apologizing. And as my sobbing increased, Kakashi seemed confused as to what to say to stop the tears. He settled with nothing and just continued to stroke my hair as I cried.

Eventually my tears seemed to run out, and I pulled away from Kakashi's chest.

Instead of thanking him, or apologizing myself, I stated a fact: "Alice and Yuki are my cousins." It was an odd thing to say, and what made it odder was that the thought had just occurred to me then.

Kakashi nodded, "I know."

I blinked, too emotionally drained to be surprised.

"I thought you figured it out too" Kakashi continued.

I said nothing and continued to stare at him.

"Well, I'll walk you to your place" Kakashi offered.

It was an immediate thought that I didn't think I could stay there, alone, with the fresh pain and old memories to haunt me. I grabbed Kakashi's sleeve, staring up at him with pleading eyes. "Can I stay at your place? Please? I don't want to be alone."

Kakashi thought for a moment, and my gaze never strayed. I hated seeming so needy in front of him, but I couldn't bear the thought of being alone. "Of course." He decided.

I let out a tiny breath of relief. Thank god. I felt another lump in my throat; it seemed that I was going to be crying off and on for a while. Kakashi took my hand, gently leading me back through the streets.

By the time we reached his place Kakashi had the entire sleeping arrangement figured out. Due to the fact I had ditched Alice and Yuki, Kakashi had offered them the upstairs bedroom I had slept in, which left the bedroom and the couch.

Kakashi led me into his bedroom, closing the door behind him in habit.

Had I been thinking clearly, I would've immediately frowned upon the state of his room. The bed sheets were a tangled mess, laundry was thrown about in every corner and crevice, there was a plate on the floor, and presumably much more junk buried under the laundry. But all this meant little to me at the time.

"I'll sleep on the couch; you're welcome to the bed." And with that offering Kakashi turned towards the door. In a fleeting moment of panic at being alone again, all sane rational thoughts fled my mind. I grabbed Kakashi's arm, pulling him back round to face me. The question was clear in his eye. I stepped closer, pushing my chest against his, while pulling down his mask with my hands. Keeping a firm grip on the mask, I pulled Kakashi's head down, lips crashing into mine.

Kakashi stiffened up like a board. I frowned, not liking that at all. I nipped playfully at his lower lip, trying to coax him into it. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my tongue slowly tracing the curves of his lips. Kakashiseemed to give in, opening his mouth a crack and pushing my backwards, further into the room. "Akiko" Kakashi said, voice breathless and husky, as I pulled away for some needed air.

I cut him off, kissing him again. I wasn't in the mood to listen to him talking. I was operating off of sheer instinct and want at the moment, and his logic wouldn't have worked well with me.

I took a step back, pulling Kakashi with me. My foot landed on a sock, and my balance was lost. The tumble sent my falling backwards, hauling Kakashi along with me. Conviently, I landed with my back on the bed.

I giggled, delighted, at the shock of the fall. Kakashi stared at me for a moment before removing my arms from his neck and pinning them beside my head, this time pressing his lips against mine.

I grinned, my toes furling and unfurling with pleasure.

That was more like it.

* * *

**O_O Yes, that just happened. And, oddly enough, it was planned. No phantom keyboard syndrome to blame this time.**

**Well, what'd you think? Super-special awesome? To melodramatic? **

**I found a valentine card from two or three years ago, that I never actually gave my friend. So I did the wordsearch on it, and, I found proof of my stupidity/awesome-ness, when I read the word"Lacigam" instead of "Magical" on the answer key. Granted, it was one of those annoying backwards words, but still.**

**Time for me to hit the hay! Gotta busy day full of math, old people, and building to look forward too.**

**R&R**

**-Y.A.O.G**

**P.S Thanks to those that added this fic to their favorites between this and the previous update. It kinda got my ass in gear. Haha. TOODLES.**


	36. The Rules of Childish Fighting

**Ohhh...I know I should've used more emotion in this chapter. I just know it. But alas, that's something that involves a lot of work.**

* * *

"Ugh, shit on a sandwich."

That, combined with a few other, more original swears, happened the first phrase out of my mouth as I awoke to the sign creeping in through the window's curtain.

I sat up, cringing, as I tried to piece together last night's events. And solve the mystery as to why the back of head felt so sore. I reached back, finger's gently probing the back my skull. My finger hit a tender spot, and I cringed again. What the hell had I hit my head on? I wracked my memory, trying to recall hitting my head, or the majority of what had happened the previous evening. It was fuzzy. I furrowed my brow, thinking.

And then it hit me, like a bullet. Or Superman. Or something else that moves really fast. I flopped back onto the bed, moaning. I wasn't sure I was going to cry again, or just sit and feel disgusted with myself. Was I really so terrible as to sleep with Kakashi the same day I found out my uncle was dead?

I rolled onto my side, pulling my knees tight against my stomach, in attempt to quell the twisting feeling in my gut.

I was terrible.

I lay, curled up in the ball, for God knows how long, feeling rather a depressing mix of emotions. The tears I could feel building up wouldn't spill over, and my stomach was twisted in knots of disgust.

I sat up, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. I was still wearing yesterday's ensemble, which made the events of last even more confusing. I stood up slowly, trying to avoid the imminent head rush. After swaying dizzily for a few moments, I made my way cautiously for the door. Kakashi's floor was like a minefield, and I had to tread carefully. I wasn't overly fond of the idea of stepping on some moldy food item. I found Yuki and Alice seated comfortably in the kitchen, helping themselves to cereal.

I paid little attention to them, as I wasn't fully ready to acknowledge any relation to them. It was too much for me at the time to admit that the two could possible be my cousins. So, I poured myself a bowl of cereal and joined them at the table, saying nothing. I kept my gaze down, as if my breakfast would escape if I didn't continue to stare at it.

Just as I was about to swallow my first spoonful, Yuki spoke.

Face devoid of emotion, he said in an impassive tone "So, did you have fun last night?"

Any cereal in my mouth at the time went spewing onto the kitchen table. "W-w-what?" I sputtered.

"I heard a loud noise last night and was wondering if you were playing a game"

Face flushed, with good cause considering my theories upon what had happed last night, I stared down at the table. I said nothing.

After only mere minutes of awkward silence, Alice seemed to catch onto the fact that their presence was making me a tad uncomfortable. More than a tad, in fact. I felt a little bad for it, as it wasn't like they were the kind the kind of kids that would most people uncomfortable. They weren't the kids with missing teeth, headless toys, and greasy hair that always seemed to stare directly in your general direction. They were okay children, and not very scary, if you ignored the fact Yuki seemed to be an emotionless child.

The minute Yuki was doe with his cereal; Alice had him out the door, muttering something about 'exploring'. Which left me alone. With things seeming to catch up with me, I curled up on the couch and cried for a solid hour or so, until there was a knock at the door.

I heaved myself off the couch, wiping a tear or two off my cheek. The minute I pulled open the door I found a pair of arms thrown around me in a vice-grip hug. A rustling plastic bag rubbed against my back.

I returned the hug briefly before removing myself from the surprisingly tight death grip of my friend.

"I came as soon as I heard" Naoki informed me, flashing a sympathetic smile.

"Thanks" I said sincerely. After a beat, I decided to ask, "Naoki…how exactly did you realize I was at Kakashi's place?"

"It wasn't exactly hard to put two and two together. You weren't at home, I hadn't heard from you, and your oh-so-obvious crush on Kakashi led me to the conclusion that you were probably here" Pausing, Naoki added, "It was a tie between here and the soup kitchen, though."

I said nothing, but the question in my stare was obvious. How the hell did she…?

"Know about your little crush? Come on man; give me more credit than that. You may be a ninja, but it's hard to hide this stuff from someone who's known you since you were eating paste."

"…"

"Anyway! I though you'd probably need a hug, and some ice cream, so I picked that up, along with some old movies from the store!"

In the following five and a half hours I ate half my weight in ice cream, and cried a fair amount. It was nice having Naoki to talk to, there was something comforting talking with someone who know me so well (Even if it was mildly frightening sometimes.)

Naoki stayed around until the late evening, as the moment Kakashi walked into the room she was up and out, saying something about movie rentals and next week. Kakashi paid her no attention besides a slight nod, and took her spot next to me on the couch. He stared at the one liter ice cream container.

"Did you eat _all_ of that?"

I belched. "No."

Kakashi stared at me, eyebrow cocked.

"Okay, maybe."

He continued to stare.

"Fine fine, yes, I did." I belched again, "It was good."

Kakashi rolled his eyes. There was a pause, and then, eyebrow rising again, he asked in a softer tone, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be…" I trailed off, "Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

"What… exactly happened between us last night? When I woke up I had a headache and things are still rather fuzzy."

Kakashi tapped his chin, "Hmm…let's see. Well, first, you started kissing me, and we ended up making out."

I didn't even bother hiding the blush on my cheeks.

"Then you started to pull me towards the bed" –A feeling of dread crept over me. Oh hell no, I did sleep with him.- "And then you slipped on a sock and knocked yourself out."

I blinked, things not fully making sense, "What?"

"You stepped on a sock, slipped and knocked yourself out" Kakashi repeated, before a sly twinkle appeared in his eye, "Why? Were you having dirty dreams about me?"

"No" I snapped, a little _too_ quickly. To prevent Kakashi from making a further comment, I decided to throw out a quick I told you so. I had told him before that one day someone would slip on a sock and crack their heads open. Or knock themselves out in the very least.

Kakashi chuckled. "Well, since it's getting dark, I'll be a gentleman and offer you another night here. Hopefully without any sock injuries"

I didn't protest, which I think surprised him. Normally I'd be vehemently against staying the night, provided he offered. At the moment I was much too afraid to be alone, to accept things. It would have been worse at my house too, with all those memories floating around like rubbing salt into an open wound.

Kakashi started to rise, "I'll get the bed ready."

"What? I'll sleep on the couch, you get the bed" I might be willing to stay the night, but that was intrusive, and I had slept there last night. Albeit unwillingly.

"No no, it's fine, you're my guest, you can sleep on the bed."

"But it's your house; I'll sleep on the couch!"

"Bed."

"Couch."

"Bed."

This went on for some time and Yuki and Alice managed to slip upstairs, to the room I presumed Kakashi had offered up, and the streetlights had flickered on.

"Bed" I said, keeping my face straight.

"Couch- Wait bed! You agreed!"

"Did not."

"Did too."

It had turned into a petty fight like the ones five year olds had.

"It was to trick you, so it doesn't count."

"Like hell it doesn't. That should qualify as cheating."

"I don't think there's a rule book for childish fights."

Both of us paused for a moment to contemplate that wise bit of information.

"Couch" I repeated stubbornly.

"Bed" Kakashi stated, eyes narrowed.

"Wait! Compromise!" I exclaimed, throwing both hands up in a 'stop' motion.

Kakashi, who appeared as if he had something to say, cut himself off and folded his arms over his chest, "I'm listening."

"What if" I paused out of need for some dramatic flair, "What if we both slept on the couch?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Sounds fair.

It seemed like a straightforward enough idea, both of us would cram ourselves onto the couch and sleep there, but it was harder than I thought it would be to find a comfortable position. Originally, we stretched out with heads on opposite heads of the couch, but Kakashi's feet smelled weird and I refused to suck it up. After much grumbling and shifting, I found my back pressed to Kakashi's chest, and his arm's wrapped around me so I wouldn't slip off.

Just as I was about to drift off, a thought occurred to me.

"Kakashi?"

"Yes?" Kakashi sounded half-asleep and the 'yes' came out slurred.

"Wouldn't it have made more sense if we both slept on the bed?"

* * *

**The sock made a comeback! Kinda. The sock reference thing became a reality. I guess.**

**Yay for the sock!**

**I'm going to stop typing before I say something stupid...**

**Thanks for reading, and R&R,**

**-Y.A.O.G**


End file.
